Plunge
by CloverCard
Summary: It all started with the log pose. It was normal at first then it went crazy and then...dead. As the strawhats explore the new and seemingly friendly island, Nami is constantly thrust into situations where she has to question her sanity. To work out what is reality and what is in her head. What does any of it have to do with her captain? Well, she'll just have to figure that out.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece

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You ever have those moments where you wonder how you got yourself in a certain situation where you have no other choice but to go through with it? A situation with only one solution or you're dead? A situation where you have to question your sanity on more than one occasion? No? Well I have. Many times. You can blame my captain for that.

You see, it was just like any other day on the Sunny. You know, the stooges playing their games, Zoro sleeping the day away, Sanji fawning over Robin and I, Robin calm and collected ignoring his comments, and me, I was concentrating on the log pose. Here's the thing, I have to pay attention to three needles and the one that shakes the wildest is the one most sane people would avoid, but you don't know my crew. We have a rubber-man, cyborg, skeleton musician, notorious liar, talking reindeer doctor, pervert chef, nocturnal swordsman, all-knowing archaeologists, and then there's me.

What? You think I can't be normal and sane _and_ apart of this crew? Yeah well, you're right for the most part. I have this superhuman ability to predict the weather but other than that, I'm pretty much your average girl.

What? Oh come on! Fine. I might or might not have a slight obsession with treasure. There. Happy?

Anyways, like I said already, I was paying attention to the log pose completely blocking out all the background noise: the laughing and yelling, Zoro's snoring, and endless compliments courtesy of Sanji. The thing had to be busted or something. All the needles were pointing in the same direction and even weirder than that, they were all shaking wildly. And even more bizarre, they were all shaking in time. Freaking broken. Or, so I hoped.

When I concluded we had a busted log pose, you can bet I was beginning to freak out. I mean, how could I keep calm in that sort of situation? You either have a broken life-saving tool, or you have a life-saving tool that's trying to lead you to your death. So like I said, I freaked out. Face pale, eyes wide, and sweat everywhere. Of course Sanji noticed. He was right beside me and complimenting anything and everything he could (and couldn't) see.

Naturally, I ignored him. Maybe if I stared long enough it would fix itself? I never had this problem before and I was bent on believing it was broken. Trust me, a broken log pose is easier to deal with than an entire island set on killing you and those you care for. I could always use an eternal pose if need be. And _then_ I remembered we didn't have any of those and thus I became a freaking mess.

"Ah! Nami-swan! What's the matter? Robin-chwan do you-"

And that's when things got scary.

I couldn't really see what was going on around me, all my senses were zoned in on the log pose. I couldn't move my head, let alone my eyes! It was like someone was holding me in place. I could feel a faint throbbing in my head. _On_ my head too. It felt as if someone was pulling my hair and it hurt, but…not really. It felt more like a loose tug with a few strands being yanked. But the pain was getting worse the longer I was forced to focus on the log pose.

And then I felt a shiver run down my spine. A light giggle right next to my ear. Another behind me. And then I was surrounded. All over I could hear the eerily happy and delighted giggles. They sounded like children. But there were no kids on the Sunny excluding Chopper (who wasn't really a child anyway). They were suffocating me! All around. In my ear, in my head! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't move, I couldn't scream. Then, just like that, they stopped. I was released.

I felt as if the sun went out I was shivering so much. My hands felt like ice. My whole body did really. Yet, through all the shivering and chills, I was soaked in sweat and my face felt hot. Almost as if the sun decided to live in my head instead of the sky like it should.

I was just vaguely aware of the others voices. They were shouting and sounded frantic with their running and stomping echoing in the background. The last thing I heard before passing out was my captain's loud voice and a faint, haunting giggle.

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Ah! This is going to be my first multiple chapters fic, so I hope its off to a good start and you enjoyed it for the most part.

I'm sorry for any and all of my mistakes! If she sounds too OoC can you make suggestions? Along with grammar and spelling and such?  
I'm still not good at choosing categories, so I hope they're okay for now.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece

-x-

Thank you so much for the reviews!

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The first thing I saw when I woke up? A butt. Yeah, that's right a butt. A very nice butt, but a butt none the less. Who did the butt belong to? Well who else? Luffy of course.

I'm not really sure why his pants were off or why he thought mooning me would do any good, but there he was, pants around his ankles, no underwear, turned around, and arguing with Chopper.

"Luffy put your pants back on!" Chopper scolded.

"But I'm the moon! She has to think its night when she wakes up!" Luffy tried to defend his reasoning.

"Mooning someone doesn't make it nighttime!"

"Yeah it does!"

I kind of just lay there on the cot sitting that argument out. Sure it was absolutely ridiculous but what did you expect me to do? Yeah yeah, hit him. The thing is though, I was tired, drained of energy. I barely even realized I was in the infirmary.

At first I couldn't remember why. But then it all came back to me. The log pose, the creepy ass giggles, and then the passing out. I shivered. Yeesh! You see, I was really hoping I imagined everything and I had just been hallucinating because of the heat or something. I did not want to face another problem after just leaving an already dangerous enough island.

Rustling the sheets a little, my hand finally made its way to my face and I observed the log pose. The needles were working fine. I felt myself sigh with relief. '_So it was just a dream,_' was my first thought. My second was something along the lines of '_why'd it get dark so suddenly?_' I heard his laughter before I realized it was his shadow.

"Nami! You're awake!" I looked away from the log pose and up at him. He had his signature face splitting smile. His pants were still down. Before I could hit him though, Chopper intervened.

"Nami, are you okay? Feeling better?" He frantically asked as he jumped in front of Luffy. He had the most adorably worried expression on his face.

I slowly sat up, and as I did, I felt all my energy rush back to me. Healed in a matter of seconds. No more shaking, no sweating, shivers, fever…voices in my head. I felt better than I had in a long time. Completely calm and tension free.

I smiled down at Chopper and said, "Much better." He visibly relaxed for a second before he put on his 'doctor' face. It being Chopper, the face was almost too cute to take seriously.

"While you were resting, I checked for any signs of bacteria or viruses," he said.

"Did you find anything?"

"Thankfully no. The only reason I can think of your sudden sickness is possibly a small fever or slight dehydration…" he trailed off while staring at the floor. He looked as if he was deep in thought. "But…"

"But?" I questioned.

He paused then shook his head. "Never mind. Just make sure to drink plenty of water and rest up."

I nodded.

"So Nami's all better now?" Luffy asked.

"Yup! She should be fine." Chopper smiled up at Luffy, which brought my attention back to him and the fact that his pants were enjoying their vacation around his ankles. I hit him over the head.

"Idiot! Put your pants back on!" He whined and rubbed the area where I hit him.

"That hurt Nami!" He grumbled as he slid his pants back on. "I was only trying to help," he pouted.

"And how was mooning me going to do that?"

"I didn't want you to be confused when you woke up."

_Huh?_

"…what?"

"He thought you'd feel better if you woke up at night," Chopper piped in.

"Why?"

"Because then you'd think it was a dream and you could go back to sleep," Luffy said.

That was surprisingly sweet, idiotic, but sweet coming from Luffy. I wasn't quite sure how to reply to that though, so I just pushed the blanket off and stood up. Chopper was immediately at my side making sure I was okay. I waved him off and asked how long I was asleep for.

"About three hours," he said.

Three hours? That was way too long to leave the ship unattended. I dashed straight out the door and onto the deck. I checked the ship's relation to the needle we were following and noticed it was off by quite a bit.

I looked around the deck for the familiar blue-headed cyborg. He was playing with Brook, pink guitar accompanying the skeletons classy violin. I'm pretty sure it was 'Bink's Sake' but I couldn't really tell over Brook's laughter and Franky's very off-key singing.

"Franky! I need you steer the ship!" I called out to him.

"Nami-sis, you feeling better?" He sang to the tune. That's right. He was still singing, fingers still plucking the strings. Brook was copying him. Ugh. I was surrounded by weirdoes.

"Yeah, much better. Can you steer the ship a quarter to the left?"

"Sure thing!" He stood up and went up the stairs, strumming his guitar while Brook followed behind.

"I'll see your panties soon Nami-san!" Brook called out as he began to sing the next verse. Both he and Franky started doing a weird dance with their feet.

"Like hell you will!" I shouted.

I shook my head then turned away and looked around the deck. The sun was still high in the sky, bright and hot. The sky was the brightest shade of blue I had ever seen. I couldn't see any clouds. Nothing. None. Zip. Zero. Nada. I couldn't see any birds either which was pretty weird because they were usually around. Either close to the ocean or high in the sky. The breeze was soft but strong enough to relieve the deck of the suns heat. It felt nice. Other than the birds, the weather was pretty normal.

After the quick weather check up, I went for my lawn chair, but something caught my eye. Something had moved. I turned towards the tree swing and felt myself release a sigh of relief. Robin was sitting on the swing with a book in her hand as the tree's shade guarded her from the sun. Usopp was behind her reading over her shoulder. I walked over and saw the book was titled 'Quick Fixes.'

"What're you guys reading?" I asked anyway.

Robin looked up from the book and gave me a small smile. "Ah, Nami-san, you're up. You look well rested," she observed.

"Yeah, you look loads better," Usopp said.

"Mm-hm. I feel fine now. So, what are you reading?"

Robin lifted the book up for me to see. "'Quick Fixes.' There seem to be a few issues with the ship's plumbing."

"Franky's been fixing the major problems, I'm just doing the small stuff," Usopp said.

"Oh. So the books about plumbing?"

"Pretty much." He shrugged his shoulders.

"When did it start happening?"

"About the time you fainted," Robin said. And odd glint appeared in her eye. I chose to ignore it.

"Yeah you should've seen it! The sink exploded and the whole kitchen was submerged! Me being the brave warrior of the sea, I went straight in to help the distressed Sanji. He was flailing like mad. Luckily I was there to-"

"The sink in the kitchen was just clogged," Robin cut in.

"Huh. That's weird."

"You're telling me. I thought Sanji knew how to swi-"

"Yes. That's why we were reading this. I'm looking for useful information," Robin cut him off again.

"Isn't the whole book useful?" I asked.

"You would think."

"Actually, I've been reading what I could and it is pret-"Usopp was interrupted by a loud crash.

I whipped around to see Sanji and Zoro crashing through the door, shouting obscenities at each other. Sanji was covered in flour and Zoro had a wide, satisfied smirk on his face. I had no idea what happened, but I could guess. Zoro probably said something to catch Sanji off guard, causing him to fall into the flour. Sanji all mad started a fight and the usual happened. Or something like that.

Sanji thrust his leg at Zoro, who in turn used his swords to block the kick. The impact caused both to fly back. Sanji into the railing and Zoro into mine and Robins lawn chairs. Into _our_ lawn chairs. That was it.

Before they could destroy anything else on the ship, I stomped over to them. First to Zoro, my fist connecting with his green head, and then over to Sanji. When I was done with them, large bumps rose, doubling the size of their heads. I heard a faint 'Nami is scary' and an 'agreed' behind me. I brushed the comments off.

"What do you think you're doing witch?" Zoro hissed through his teeth, hand rubbing his head.

"Don't talk to Nami-swan that way moss head! Her lovely fists are to remind us of_ your_ stupidity!"

"What was that dart brow?" His hand quickly went for his swords.

"Enough!" I shouted. "What the hell happened this time?"

"The idiot was stupid," Zoro said with his arms crossed.

"The moron dumped flour on me," Sanji argued.

"I told you already, I wasn't even near the flour!"

"Then how'd I get covered in it?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

I stepped between them. Clearly another fight would start between the two if they continued. There was no talking it out with them. "Cut it out already! Sanji, go to the bathroom and wash yourself off. Zoro, go take a nap or something." They both tried to argue, but I wouldn't let them. "Now! Unless you want me to hit you where it hurts!"

they quickly scrambled away, Sanji disappearing into the observatory room with a dreamy 'right away Nami-swaaaaan' and Zoro to the crow's nest. Honestly, why couldn't the two just get along? I mean, the minute they see each other the first thing they have to say is an insult. Or, they just skip the insults all together and go straight to the fighting. Saves a lot of time that's for sure, but it was still unnecessary.

I walked back over to Usopp and Robin, the former looking pale as I got closer and the latter indifferent. "Well done Nami-san," Robin complimented.

"You have no mercy do you?" Usopp asked, cowering behind Robin.

I grinned. "None."

Robin smiled. "I do wonder how Sanji-san got covered in the flour though."

"He probably spilled it on himself and blamed Zoro," Usopp said.

I let out a laugh. Robin chuckled softly. I heard a third laugh join in. I thought it was Usopp but he was still talking.

'_Weird.'_

I stopped.

I could hear it behind me. I turned around but only saw Franky steering the ship and Brook strumming his pink guitar. Luffy and Chopper still weren't on deck and Sanji and Zoro had only just left. I turned back to Usopp already onto a tall tale about Sanji's fate with the flour and Robin who seemed mildly amused. The light giggle continued.

No one else could hear it.

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Sorry this chapter is so long and basically just dialogue. It'll start picking up soon, I promise! For now, just think of it as the calm before the storm…or something. I don't know.

Please let me know if there is anything I can fix or improve on!

Oh and ksldfhskdfj. I'm not a doctor so I have no idea if Choppers diagnosis thing is right. And Franky was just taking a break.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Nope.

Again, I want to thank you guys for the reviews! Hope you like this chapter! ^^

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The infirmary was dark with only the desk lamp to light what little it could. Papers were thrown all over, scattered in different corners of the room. Some soaked with a strange chemical others crumpled or ripped entirely. The usually organized medical equipment was in a chaotic mess, beakers knocked over with substances leaking out, surgical tools strewn about the room, and shattered glass of broken test tubes.

A vague outline could be seen of a human figure and that of a reindeer, their figures shadowy in the dimly lit room. The human was hunched over on the badly torn medical bed while the reindeer, surprisingly enough, was standing on its hind legs. There seem to be an ominous atmosphere hanging over their heads.

"You saw her right?" The reindeer questioned. Its voice oddly high-pitched, but tone dark.

"Yes," answered the human.

"She has finally heard us."

"She has."

"Our message has reached her."

"No, not quite yet. She doesn't seem to understand."

"She saw the signs."

"But she didn't understand."

"The message was so simple."

"She's hiding."

"What?"

"She doesn't want to believe. We'll need to convince her."

"How?"

"Leave it to me."

The human figure slowly rose from the bed and stepped into the light illuminating from the lamp. Its eyes were shadowed by a stark straw hat, a scar placed upon its left cheek. The small line of a mouth was curved into a deep frown. It lifted its head up to show the face of a man. He placed his callused hand onto the desk and slowly slid it to a piece of paper.

"This," he said as he lifted it and showed it to the reindeer. "This shall do."

"We agreed that that plan wouldn't suffice. It would discourage her rather than persuade."

"We have tried everything else and only just managed to reach her. Do you have any other ideas? I would gladly listen to them."

The reindeer slowly closed the space between them. It reached for the paper and withdrew it from the man's hand. The light highlighted the short, soft fur revealing the reindeer to be male as it studied what was written. His face scrunched in concentration.

"But how could this possibly bring her to us? She'll be too frightened."

"She'll have no other choice."

"What do you plan to do?"

"You'll see." A smile slowly crept onto the man's face, distorting his features into a ghostly appearance.

The light flickered.

Darkness flooded the room.

-x-

I woke up with a start. The lingering feeling of terror and a since of foreboding hovered over me even though I couldn't remember what I had dreamed about. I brought a hand to my head and felt the sweat dripping down my forehead. I released a shaky breath from my lips and slowly looked around the room.

Why was I in the infirmary?

I swear I went to sleep in my own room. After everything that had happened that day, I was exhausted and went to bed early. Sure I slept for three hours, but that was hardly enough. But what the heck? Seriously, can you tell me how I got there?

When I finally managed to get myself up onto my elbows, insisting that a blanket wouldn't protect me from anything, I really took a look around the room. Everything was in place, Chopper was asleep at his desk, but something seemed off.

I slowly brought my feet to the floor and stood up, only to fall hard. I felt myself sliding. I clawed out in front of me, trying to stay in place, but to no avail. My back hit the wall with a dull thud.

The room was tilted.

The _room_ was _tilted!_

Chopper was still sitting at his desk asleep. How? I don't know, but gravity seemed to favor him as he was perfectly still.

"Close your eyes," he mumbled in his sleep.

"What?" I asked, which was really stupid considering he was probably dreaming and just talking in his sleep.

"Close your eyes. Go to sleep," he replied.

Again, what? How? When? _What?_ How could he reply to me? He wasn't even conscious!

"Only the beginning," he mumbled. "More. Close your eyes."

"Why?"

He didn't reply.

"What do you mean?"

He stayed silent.

There wasn't really much else I could do, so I slowly got to me feet and attempted to make my way to the cot. It was a painfully slow process, but I finally reached it.

When I got under the covers, I thought about what Chopper had said. _'Only the beginning.' _What had he meant? Did he mean me sleeping in the infirmary? Frankys need to redesign the ships interior? His crazy ability to have a conversation in his sleep? And what did he mean by 'more?'

Yeah, I know. I was dense and wasn't taking it seriously. In my defense, I was _still_ hoping none of it was real. A _real_ idiot I was. Don't worry though, I do start to believe everything, just much later.

I eventually followed his advice and closed my eyes, but I wasn't tired. I was wide awake. I felt like just had twelve cups of caffeine I was that awake. I wasn't bouncing off the walls or anything, it's just…I don't know. I guess after having the weird dream (that I couldn't remember) I just felt…uneasy. Like everything was in place, but there was something, one tiny thing, that just seemed out of it.

And no, I'm not talking about the slanted infirmary. I just brushed it off as a wave knocking the ship a little or I was too tired to keep on my feet. You know, somewhat reasonable explanations.

But despite the fact I wasn't tired, I tried to go back to sleep. Eyes still closed, I decided to listen for a sound.

You know that sound you hear when everything is silent? That weird airy, buzzing sound? The sound you hear when there's no sound at all? Yes? Well, that's what I heard. And I never hear it often.

When you live on a ship, especially a ship like mine, there is constantly noise. Be it the waves, birds, rocking of the ship, or someone's laughter, there was always _something_. And without that something, I felt completely on edge. I couldn't sleep without any noise. So, I tried to focus harder on something.

Something like Choppers breathing.

Funny thing? I couldn't hear it.

Even through all the loud silence, I couldn't hear him inhale or exhale. He was completely silent. Not a single release of breath.

A little squeak of fear escaped my mouth as my eyes shot open.

"Don't worry. Sleep," he said. It sounded like a whisper, but I could hear it perfectly. It sounded as if he said it right next to my ear. Like he was standing by the cot.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I could feel my hands shake as the desperately held onto the blanket. I don't know why it frightened me so much. I mean, it was Chopper. But…it wasn't at the same time.

"Close your eyes," he said. His voice was gentle.

"B-bu-"

"_Sleep_."

I sensed my body suddenly relax. My eyes felt heavier than they had a second ago. I was calmer, almost serene and began to drift off. It was like all my nerves were put out instantly like a person blowing out a candle.

"Dream." A gentle whisper.

I felt myself smile.

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Haha, so? How was it? Good? Bad? Terrible? Horrible? Surprisingly okay?  
I'd love to know what you thought of it! Oh, and for any mistakes, let me know. I'll try to fix them.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Own One Piece don't I

You've probably noticed I switch between past and present tense. Just to clear things up, this is on purpose. Think of it like she's telling the story to a friend. She's going to be adding commentary.

Ooohhh! You guys are great! Thanks for reviewing! And sorry for the confusion of the last chapter, it will (hopefully) get cleared up soon! But, in my defense, it was supposed to be a little confusing. So, yay? For me? :P

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I was back home picking tangerines in the grove. It was early morning and the sky had a soft orange glow. The sun was just barley peaking its head from behind our roof.

I plopped a tangerine into the basket and wiped the sweat from my brow. It was a lot of work, but doing it so early in the morning always felt nice. It was my way of relaxing and letting all my troubles float away. It helped me clear my mind.

"Nami-san."

I turned to find Nojika coming towards me. She had a worried expression on her face. That was odd.

"Yeah Nojiko?"

"Nami-san," she called a little louder even though she was standing right in front of me now.

"What? What is it?"

"It's time to wake up now," she said as she reached for my shoulder and began to shake it.

"I am," I said confused.

"Wake up Navigator-san. You've missed breakfast."

_Navigator-san? _Why did that sound familiar?

The world around me suddenly began to melt. My surroundings turned black as the former orange sky became a puddle of liquid fire around my feet and the tangerines became its sparks. Standing in front of me was a tan woman with dark hair. The fire around us illuminated her wise eyes and sly smile. Who was she?

"Wake up now." Her voice was soft.

I opened my eyes to find Robin leaning over me gently shaking my shoulder. She had a concerned expression on her face.

"Good morning Nami-san," she said. She brought her hand back and she stood up.

"Good morning," I yawned out.

What a weird dream. I couldn't remember who Robin was and I didn't even notice Nojiko using 'san.' Wonder why that was?

I sat up from under the covers and began to stretch. I noted that I was in the women's quarters. For some reason, that seemed strange to me. With one last stretch of my back, it suddenly hit me. Had that been a dream? The time in the infirmary? It had felt so real.

I shuddered. Maybe I could go and check it out. Make sure it was a dream or that maybe Franky really had rebuilt the infirmary…

"You missed breakfast." Robin broke me out of my thoughts.

"Huh?"

"You missed breakfast," she repeated.

"I did?"

"Yes. I'm surprised too. They were much louder than usual this morning."

My brows furrowed. I can barely deal with their noise when I'm awake, how did I do it asleep? I mean, you've seen me haven't you? Always running around the ship, trying to shut those idiots up? I kick them, yell at them, grab their cheeks and my favorite option, punch them upside the head (I realize that that sounds terrible). They're too loud to just ignore and it surprised me that I had just slept through all that.

Robin, seemingly noticing my worry, tried to console me. "Don't worry. I'm sure you might only be losing your hearing." Yep. Key word of the last sentence? Tried.

"Thanks Robin…" She nodded and headed for the door.

"I'll be on the deck if you need me." And then she disappeared. Ugh. She used one of her clones again. Yes, they're cool, but they're creepy at the same time. You can't really tell which one is genuinely her. She also left a few petals on the floor. They were a light pink this time.

I got up for bed and began my morning routine, deciding not to clean the petals up because they'd eventually disappear like they normally did. I walked past the dresser and to the closets. What to wear, what to wear? I decided that a pair of shorts and a tank top would do. It was a new one too. Yellow with blue beads sewn in to make vertical stripes. I had really liked it. It's a shame that-

Whoa whoa! I'm getting ahead of myself here.

I put them on and went for the dresser. Grabbing my green brush, I sat down and began to brush my hair. I had really let it grow out those two years of training. It was down to my waist now and pretty damn wavy. A little annoying to take care of though, but I like it. I smiled and hummed as I continued. Maybe when I was done I could go check the infirmary out. I could ask Chopper about it.

When I finished, I put it up into a high ponytail. I looked at it in the mirror to make sure it wasn't crooked or anything. I gave my reflection a toothy smile. My reflection winked back.

Ha. My reflection winked at me. Wait. What!?

I blinked, rubbed my eyes, then brought my face closer. I tilted my head to the right first. Left. Right. Up. Down. Every movement I did was copied by the mirror. I sighed with relief and got up from the cushioned chair. Did I need make-up today? I shook my head and decided against it.

I turned for the door and made a quick decision to go get something to eat first. Then maybe after that I could relax outside. And after that, have lunch. I wanted to put off going to the infirmary for as long as possible. Just the thought of going in gave me the creeps.

Once I opened the door, I became aware of a quiet sound, almost silent. It grew in volume until I could pick out what it was.

A giggle. A laugh. A childish snicker.

Suppressing the urge to run from the room, I turned around. Nothing but the mirror. The mirror. I saw myself. In the mirror.

My thoughts? 'This can't be real, this can't be real, this can't be-'etc.

In the mirror I was holding a map and a book to my chest. My whole body was caked with mud and bruises. A few scratches were showing through on my hands and arms, a larger one on my cheek. My eyes looked tired, but determined. I was looking straight at me. I mean, my reflection was. It was mouthing something, but I didn't stay to read it.

I literally sprinted out the door and down the stairs, not even bothering with closing it behind me. I mean, manners and etiquette didn't really matter at the moment. In my opinion at least.

I ran onto the deck and caught the attention of Luffy and Usopp who seemed to have been fishing. They looked bored though. Neither of them were getting any bites.

"Hey! Nami's starting a race!" Before I could deny this, the both of them were already following me, fishing poles thrown aside. Usopp shot ahead and laughed loudly.

"The great Usopp shall never be surpassed by mere novices like you!"

He ate his words (literally) when Luffy knocked him down and ran in front. He face planted into the grass. His nose looked broken as he sat up and spit dirt out of his mouth. You could see his eyes burning with determination as he recovered and chased after Luffy calling him names varying from 'cheater' to 'pumpkin eater.' You could tell he wasn't that angry though through his laughter.

I hadn't meant to start a race. I really just wanted to get the heck out of there. I needed a place to calm myself, to take a breather and have a moment of peace. That place being my trees. At home they had made me feel better; these should do just the same.

By the time I reached them, Luffy and Usopp had already started a game of tag. Chopper had joined in only a few moments ago. They were being loud and obnoxious as usual and of course that attracted Brooks attention who immediately declared he was it. Luffy was trying to get Robin to join as she was still on deck reading a book (that looked somewhat thin for her). She smiled at him and grew a few arms to hold her book as she did her signature pose to create a clone. Luffy clapped in amazement not even noticing Brook as his boney finger lightly tapped his shoulder.

"Ah, I do believe you're it Luffy-san."

He whined in protest, but quickly bounced back and laughed. As I sank to the wooden floor, I heard Brook politely ask to see Robin's panties. Of course he would ask her. He didn't get the chance to ask me yesterday.

I closed my eyes and leaned against the trunk of one of my trees. It felt good and sturdy. The suns heat felt nice against my skin, the wind was moderate, no trouble detected, and the air pressure was fine too. Still no birds though. I didn't know why.

Tangerines. That's what I smelled. I felt like I was wrapped in their scent. Sweet and sour. It reminded me so much of home. Of Cocoyashi Village. I missed them. Maybe I could write to them soon. A letter of our adventures? It'd be nice to hear back from them.

"Luffy! You can't sleep when it's your turn!" Usopp yelled.

"Ah! He died! Somebody call a doctor!" A panicked Chopper added.

I shook my head.

Oh Chopper. That's right…Chopper. Was that real last night? Had that actually happened? If it did, then how'd I end up back in my bed? I went to sleep there in the first place. It wouldn't have made since if it _was_ real. So, it was all just a dream right?

But, what about the mirror? Was that fake too? It winked at me. I mean I winked at me. I mean my reflection did! Last I checked, they weren't supposed to do that. Or show an entirely different image of you for that matter. But then again, I could've been tired? Don't people see weird illusion things if they didn't get enough sleep?

Then why did I keep hearing those giggles? They didn't seem to follow a pattern, they just sort of…happened. I had already heard them three times. But no one else seemed to have heard them…Maybe I was going crazy?

"Shishishi."

"Oh God, not again," I muttered, pressing my fingers to my eyes. There it was, another one. That stupid giggle. Or that's what I thought.

"Hey Nami!" Luffy oh so casually plopped himself right next to me. "Whatcha doin'?" His fingers were twitching. It looked like he was trying to hold back from doing something. Huh. Luffy hold back? Since when?

"Trying to think," I replied. A thought crossed my mind. Something along the lines of '_Something you don't do. Now leave me alone.'_

"Aw, why would you do that? That's boring!"

"No it's not!" I snapped my head towards him and glared, hands forming fists. What! Thinking boring? Since when?!

"Yeah it is."

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Not!"

"Too!"

"Erruugh! Shut up Luffy! What do you want?"

A mischievous smile crawled its way across his face. Uh oh. That couldn't be good.

One of his hands stretched their way up leisurely to a tangerine. His fingers wiggled as he reached to pick it off the branch.

Oh hell no. He was _not_ going to steal one of my tangerines. Especially not right in front of me.

I stood up immediately and reached for his hand, wanting to swat it away before I did any punishing. Couldn't have anything bad happen to my precious treasure. Oh no. Nope. None of that. My love for them is far stronger than my need to punish the idiots of my crew. But before I could, his hand went straight for mine. His arm contracted to normal size as his hand held on to my wrist, annoying smile still in place.

"Ha-ha! Got you! You're it Nami!"

What? He actually planned this? Since when did Luffy use his brain?

"No I'm not! I'm not even playing!"

"Yeah you are. You're it!" He said it as if his logic trumped mine.

"But-"His hand tightened around my wrist and he pouted.

"Come on," he whined. "You already missed breakfast. Don't miss tag too."

The way he said it, actually had me think about it. Should I play? Or…?

I sighed. "You have five seconds."

He stared at me, disbelieving. "One," I began.

He didn't move. "Two."

He released my wrist and took a tentative step back as if expecting me to stop if he left. "_Three_."

As if he finally believe me, he ran away yelling for the others to run and that I was it. "Four."

I waited and paused. "Five!"

I heard Chopper release a squeal when he saw me come down the stairs. Usopp right next to him also released a tiny shriek. He later declared it was his manly yelp and that he didn't even shriek at all.

Surprisingly enough, I had fun playing. And not to brag or anything but…I kicked all their sorry asses. My new title was officially 'Really scary witch who is superly awesomely proficient and beautiful at playing tag.' You can thank my crew for that title. They thought it up together. At first, Chopper wanted to give me the name, then Usopp joined, Zoro couldn't miss the opportunity and joined in too and soon everyone was adding something. Needless to say, it might or might not have boosted my ego. For a moment.

"Lunch time my lovely doves! I cooked a delicious meal for the both of you! After all that running, I thought it was time for a nice break," Sanji sang out.

"Oi, what about the rest of us?" practically all the male members shouted.

"You can eat dog shit for all I care."

I walked along side Robin towards the galley, laughing to myself. Looked like lunch would be loud as usual.

* * *

Probably the worst and longest chapter. Sorry, I'll try harder for the next one!

Here's a quick hint: Things are gonna start getting weird(er) around the ship. Haha! Like that's possible. Anyways, I hoped you liked it even through all its mistakes.

As always, for any/all mistakes/errors/hiccups, feel free to critique me. How should I fix them and improve?

oh and sjklfdslkdjfslkdfj. I just realized I can reply individually to the reviews. ;.; I fail.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Do I really need to keep doing this?

Hi guys! Been a while...oops. :P

Here you go!

* * *

They were as loud as ever when I walked in. Luffy, having entered the kitchen before Sanji had even finished his little speech, was already at his usual seat chowing down his entire plate. Of course, he was already after everyone else's too. But we've learned over our time spent with him and have become rather skilled at guarding our food. Though, he did sometimes find a way around our arms.

Zoro actually ran to his seat when he noticed already half the food was being shoveled into our captain's black-hole of a mouth. Usopp was right behind him and Chopper was yelling at Luffy to keep his hands off others plates as it could spread germs. Franky was complimenting Luffys manly appetite while Brook was laughing like a madman as usual and simply swatted Luffys hand away as he miraculously ate his food. (Seriously, _how does he do it?_)

As usual, Zoro got his corner seat closest to the infirmary (the softest seat as he likes to explain it), Chopper sat next to Usopp who sat opposite of Zoro, and Brook sat to his left. Franky was at the end. Sanji having finished his normal shouts and irritated comments on Luffys eating habits took a seat at the other end of the table. Robin sat next to Brook, and I sat next to her, which meant I was in the worse seat. Right in front of Luffy, which meant I was in perfect stealing range. Already I knew this wasn't going to end well.

Now, I know what you're probably thinking. Why did I have to waste your time and tell you about this? Well, because I felt the need to. Deal with it.

From the minute I sat down, a funny feeling settled over me. I wasn't sure what it was, but I knew it wasn't good.

"Nami-swan, Robin-chwan, I do hope you enjoy your meal. I made it with love!" Sanji was practically gushing enough adoration to flood the galley.

For some reason, I began to hear white noise. It sounded static-y. Like when there isn't a good signal on the den den mushi. I heard muttering too. Like someone was having a conversation in the background, which wasn't too weird considering it was lunch. I shook my head and hit my ear.

"It is quite tasty Sanj-san," Robin said. A sprouted hand smacked away one of Luffys stretched hands which rebounded to my plate. And of course, I wasn't paying attention and he stole some of my food. Stupid noise was distracting me.

"Why thank you my darling sweet! Everything I make if for the sake of your enjoyment! How about you Nami-swan?"

I was too busy focusing my angry glare at Luffy to reply. Either he was ignoring me or was too oblivious to not notice it. Whichever it was, it didn't matter. I sent a spoon flying towards his face.

Bingo! Right on his forehead. I laughed to myself when he brought the spoon up to look at it as if he was confused. He rubbed at the light red spot for a moment, but went back to eating.

I heard an airy cough to my right.

"Nami-swan?"

"It's delicious Sanji-kun. Like always!" I shot him a smile and could literally see his eyes turn into hearts.

He went into another gush of compliments directed to both me and Robin. They instantly blended into the muttering in the background. I heard someone laugh. Not like the giggles, but it sounded similar. It had the same whisper-y sound.

I turned to see Usopp and Chopper had started a game which caught Luffys interest. Usopp began drumming his chopsticks into a weird rhythm. Luffy and Chopper tried to imitate it.

I heard another cough to my left, but Sanji was already in a conversation with Brook.

Huh.

I turned back to the stooges in time to see Luffy toss one of his chopsticks into the air. I watched as it flew up, sailing behind him, straight into one of the dirty pots. The pot was floating. It made a light 'tink' sound when it settled onto the counter top.

_Oh God…_My face went pale.

Luffy and Chopper were looking in the air as if they expected it to fall down any moment. Franky said something, but I don't know what. He looked like he was trying to get their attention. They still hadn't noticed it went behind them…which meant they didn't see the pot.

Which meant, only I saw it. Unless…?

I turned to Robin. Her head was down and she was casually eating her food. As if feeling my stare, she looked up from her plate. Her eyes gave her away. I knew she saw something!

"Yes Nami-san?"

"Did you…?" I trailed off.

"Did I what?"

She'd never admitted to it though.

I shook my head. "Never mind."

The static sound got louder as soon as I looked away. I searched around the table to see if someone was messing with the den den mushi, but thing is, no one was.

The muttering got increasingly louder behind me. I heard a laugh and then another join in. Everyone else was focusing on Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper. They were the only three making noise.

I heard a loud clang from the kitchen and looked over the counter. It had sounded like a pot or pan fell, but they were all there, even the one that had been floating. No one even batted an eye.

The muttering turned into laughter. All around the room. It was loud and mocking.

Everyone was silent but the three idiots.

Who was laughing?!

The noise of the static was now rivaling the volume of the laughter. I felt like my brain was going to explode it was so loud! I squeezed my eyes and dropped my head to my plate. I don't know when it happened, but my hands were already there clutching at my ears. It was deafening!

Then suddenly, I heard a loud shh!

And everything went silent.

There was a ringing in my ears.

When I opened my eyes, my vision was blurry. Everyone looked fuzzy and unfocused. From across the table, Luffy actually looked transparent.

Through the ringing, I heard someone calling my name. It was faint and sounded distant.

Everything started turning black. Only a dim glow emitting from my captain was left. No one seemed to notice me, but him. His eyes were focused right onto my face but they weren't his eyes. They were a frightening blue.

I fainted.

* * *

It was storming outside the mouth of the cave. The rain was coming down hard, the thunder deafening, and the quick flashes of light from the lightning illuminated the harsh edges of the rocky cavern walls.

A lone figure stood a few feet away from the entrance, eyes watching the destructive weather with a dead stare. Though he was far from the rain his fur was dripping and creating a mess on the floor, a large puddle already forming at his feet.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the silent cave. It was small yet held an ominous atmosphere, like it was waiting for something. It was dingy and cold inside and the sharp edges of the rock casted large and unfriendly shadows. If the light had lasted a little longer, the shadows would appear to be moving.

Thunder roared from above, high in the sky causing the ground beneath the reindeer's feet to shake. Distracted by the sudden jolt, he did not have time to notice the silent approach of the oncoming man. When he lifted his head, he released a soundless shriek then frowned when he distinguished the face.

"I tried all that I could," the reindeer said.

"I know."

"I could only make it last for so long."

"I know."

"The rain will let up in a minute."

"That's fine."

"Could you reach her?"

"No. Her mind rejected me."

"How close were you?"

"Very. I had her for a second, I know she heard me, but her mind was under too much stress."

"I tried to hold them back, but you know how they are."

"They're too young. Still too much mischief."

"Yet so powerful."

"Distract them for next time. Send them somewhere. Anywhere but the ship."

"I'll try."

The man nodded, straw hat bobbing with his movements. His hair was soaked, releasing droplets down his face, some catching at his scar. His eyes flickered to the shadows and frowned.

"Get out of here."

As if caught hiding, the shadows jumped, then left instantly out the mouth of the cave. Over the fading thunder, their laughter could be heard throughout the forest.

As it seemed, the absence of the shadowy presences lifted the atmosphere of the cave. Like a burden had been lifted. The edges softened and their shadows lightened and the cave now held a homey atmosphere.

As it should.

* * *

Something splashed me in the face.

"Oops!"

I woke with a start, my eyes wide open, and face dripping wet. I looked around to see I was in the infirmary again. The situation oddly mirrored yesterday except Luffy had his pants on this time. He was holding a now empty cup of water as he frantically searched for something.

I groggily sat up and brought a hand to my head. Why did it hurt so much? I rubbed softly as I looked around. Chopper was at his desk looking at some papers, probably notes of my sudden 'sickness.' I wouldn't be surprised if he had diagnosed me as crazy already.

I looked back towards Luffy and found him holding a towel. "Why did you splash me with water?" I was too tired to be annoyed.

"Chopper wanted me to give you some while he worked on something. He said you needed it." He handed me the towel and I took it. I brought it to my face and buried my head into it. I wanted to go back to sleep.

"Fruough difndt fned fo sflill un bme." My voiced was muffled by the towel.

"What?"

I sighed and brought my head back up. "You didn't need to spill it on me."

"It was an accident!"

"How do you accidentally dump an entire cup of water on someone?"

"I tripped. See!" He went back over to Choppers desk and emitted himself from a few minutes ago. He had a concentrated look as on his face as he held the cup with both hands and slowly walked over to the cot. A loose floorboard caught one of his toes and sent him stumbling over to me. What little was left in the cup came flying out and hit me in the face.

Typical.

I brought the towel back up to dry myself as he said, "Oops."

My eyebrow twitched. "Oops is right," I muttered under my breath.

"Luffy, come here," Chopper said from his desk.

"Okay!" He seemed eager to escape my first that had slowly been rising. He'd feel my wrath next time.

Chopper lowered his voice as he talked to him. Luffy seemed to nod in understanding, his face set in a serious expression. If I hadn't known better, I would've said he looked like a different person. There was a pause and the infirmary was silent for a moment then Luffy gave a finale nod and headed for the door.

"See ya later Nami!" He gave me a wide grin.

I gave him a halfhearted glare as he exited the infirmary. I looked over to Chopper and saw him fidgeting in his chair. He slowly got down from his seat and made his way over to me.

"Nami, I know it's only been two days, but normally you're very healthy and have very few issues. I'm starting to worry. The few times I've seen you the past two days, you've always had a certain smell."

"What?" I asked a little shocked. What smell did he mean?

"I'm a reindeer Nami. Animals have stronger senses of smell. Just about every sense is heightened. When you fainted yesterday morning, when you came running out of your room, and just now at lunch, I could smell the same thing."

"What'd you smell?" I asked hesitantly. I felt like a child who had just been caught doing something their mother didn't want them to.

"Fear. You smelled scared Nami."

I froze. Should I tell him? I mean, he could smell my fear and God knows I've been scared a lot the past few days. But then again, if I told him, he might think I was insane. Then again, maybe I was?

I pictured a flower and in my mind it became that childish game of 'he loves me, he loves me not' only I replaced the options with 'tell him, don't tell him.' On the final petal I landed on 'tell him.'

I ignored that advice.

I let out a laugh. "Scared? Of what?" In the time it took me to play the mental game, only a few seconds had past, but it still felt like an awkward pause. Even to me.

"Nami," he said sternly. It was an odd contrast to the childlike voice.

I looked down at him and my smile faded. "I honestly don't know what you're on about Chopper."

"You can tell me. I promise everything you say will just be between us."

I shook my head. I couldn't tell him. He'd think I was crazy. If I told him, he'd tell everyone else (despite his promise) and they'd drop me off on the next island and sign me up into an asylum. No doubt Zoro would be all for the idea. Wouldn't have to worry about his debt with me being all crazy.

"I'm fine Chopper. It's just…It's just the last island still has me a little freaked out. I've been having nightmares and I haven't been getting a lot of sleep. I'm just tired is all."

He looked at me for a long while, as if trying to determine my lie was a lie or the truth. Finally, he released a sigh. "I can give you some sleeping pills if you need them. Usually I'm against them, too many side effects and all, but if you need it…"

I smiled down at him. "I promise I'll only take them when I need to."

He nodded and turned back to his desk. He began to write a few things down and when he finished, he closed the file without a sound. He searched around the room for a bit until he found what he was looking for.

"Here," he said handing me the bottle. "Take only one every night for about a week. It should be able to cure your nightmares. If you still have problems, stop taking them and come to me."

I gave him a small smile and took the bottle from him. "Thanks Chopper."

He only looked at me worriedly before heading for the door. "Don't forget to tell me if something happens," he said back turned.

"I won't."

He closed the door behind him and left me in the infirmary by myself. After a minute of sitting in silence, it finally hit me that I was in the infirmary.

It was perfectly fine, normal even, and not tilted in the slightest. The only difference was the loosened floorboard that Luffy had tripped over. Probably from all his roughhousing.

With a final look around the room and a sigh of relief, I got up from the cot and went for the door. When I reached out my hand I noticed the log pose and my breath caught in my throat.

One of the needles had stopped.

* * *

And the plot thickens. Gosh, this is even longer than the last one! Yikes! Sorry 'bout that. Anyways, hoped you liked this one!

Don't really have much else to say...um.

Oh. Feel free to call me out on mistakes! ^^


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Nopity Nopity No.

Sorry it's been like almost a week since the last update. I didn't mean for it to take so long! D: I've just been busy with school and homework. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. : )

Arrggh! I found a couple of mistakes in the last chapter! There should be fewer in this one *crosses fingers*.

* * *

Has there ever been a moment in your life where you question all you've accomplished? What you've done? If you ever deserved the reward or praise you received? Have you wondered if it was worth all the hardships you faced? To go through so much _crap _and yet still make it through?

See, that's what I did after the needle froze. Did I deserve to be their navigator? In only five days I not only lost my sanity, I lost my health and sense of worth. I was worthless to them. Why would they need a navigator who fainted every two minutes or head voices in her head? Why would they need me when I broke the log pose?

Basically, those were the thoughts that swirled in my head at night and invaded all reasoning. I was drowning in a sea of self-pity…which is pretty ironic if you think about it because I am a damn good swimmer and self-pity is one of my biggest pet-peeves. But there I was in the middle of the night contemplating my worthiness of being a part of the crew and questioning all I had done. So what if I made the ship fly? So what if I made it around the whirlpools in Enies Lobby? Or predicted the unpredictable cyclone of the Grand Line? None of that mattered anymore. It was all in the past.

I wanted to sleep. That's all I wanted to do. I wanted to sleep and never wake up, but that possibility was so real it frightened me. I couldn't differentiate between a dream from reality anymore. If I fell asleep, how would I know if I woke up? How would I know that my dreams weren't my reality? The thing is, I wouldn't.

You're probably confused right? It had only been two days according to what I've told you, how could I not distinguish between dreams from reality? Well, I skipped about three days of insanity. You want to know what happened that made me come to that? That former pirate reduced to a worthless, broken shell?

In short, I got lost in my dreams and lost in my reality. I saw faces I knew, faces of the past. I heard the sounds of lively forests and busy towns and sometimes I was on fire. My hair was like a fiery cape that billowed behind me with every step I took. I was a leader, I was the sun and only I could light the way.

Sometimes Luffy was floating in the night sky with the stars. He would look down at me, laugh, and ask why I wasn't floating too. His laughter would brush my face and feel like a gentle breeze. It smelled like the sea. His hair would blend with the sky and his eyes reflected the meteor showers that went on around us. Sometimes I would think his eyes were the sky and the sky was reflecting off him. Sometimes I joined him and others times I couldn't. He'd reach for my hand on those times and I'd notice a sadness enter his eyes when I didn't reach back.

More than once my mirror showed me in its glassy reflective face. The scene was always different. At times I was searching for something in a dead forest. I looked frantic and scared as if I was running out of time, but my movements were calm and quick as I turned over rocks and stones. Other times, I was digging in the ground; my arms were plastered with mud up to my elbows as I buried something deep into the hole. Whenever I covered it up I'd look around anxiously, making sure I was alone and not being watched. My reflection never did try to interact with me again. For some reason, it made me sad.

I was shoved into insanity for so long that when I was ripped into reality, reality felt like my dreams. Whenever I saw Luffy, my face scrunched into confusion until I had to remind myself that gravity kept people on the ground and not in the air. When I saw him run past I'd feel a pang of disappointment. Why wouldn't he float?

When I sat on my lawn chair and read the newspaper, the words would wind and coil across the page. They would form messages that didn't make sense. At least, not to me. They would talk about an island, or some history, or sometimes they talked about the sun and the moon. I even read something about a lion. I'd blink my eyes a couple of times and continue reading as if the words made sense just so everyone wouldn't worry.

The thing is, I knew I was losing it. The whole time I knew I was losing it, and there was nothing I could do about it. It freaked me out to actually _know_ that I was losing my sanity. Were you supposed to be aware of that? I wasn't sure, but I was scared and constantly on edge that one moment I would be thrown from reality and into another dream where everything made sense again because my dreams felt more real than my reality.

So there I was, in my bed wide awake in the middle of the night wondering if I deserved to be a part of the crew anymore. I was a partially deranged navigator with a broken log pose ready to sleep the day away just to understand what was happening around her. If that wasn't messed up, then I don't know what is.

I refused to sleep though even though my body was begging me to. A part of my brain was too, the part that wanted to understand. But I pushed the pleading thoughts to the back of my mind and stayed in my bed staring at the ceiling. I concentrated on the swirly patterns of the wooden boards. They swirled and swirled and kept swirling until I realized that they were actually moving. I felt my stomach flip and squeezed my eyes shut. No! I would _not _slip again. I needed to stay sane, for me and especially for the crew. We were only about two days away from reaching the next island.

I opened my eyes hesitantly until I they were wide open and staring at the ceiling. The patterns had stilled. I didn't relax though. I knew that something would happen again if I let my guard down. Deciding that my room was too easy a target, I got out hastily from under the covers and went straight for the door, back turned towards the mirror.

I heard the rustling of trees, their leaves dancing with the wind, and the happy melodies of birds singing behind me. A cicada was chirping loudly in my ear and I shook my head to make it stop. The mirror released a faint glow behind my back and I saw my shadow on the door. It was large and intimidating. It brought its arms out across the door as a sign to make me stay.

I shook my head furiously and glared at it. I would _not_ turn around. I saw it shudder under my angry stare and knew it wouldn't harm me if I opened the door. I reached for the knob and turned, but it was stuck. I yanked hard and the door finally opened. Without a sound, I shut it on my way out so as not to wake up Robin and quietly went down the steps.

It was a waning crescent moon that was high in the sky that night. That wasn't a good sign. It was supposed to be a waxing crescent. It was the beginning of the month and the ending phase of the moon was in its place. No, no, no!

It was too late to go back, I was dreaming again and nothing could wake me up but Robin or someone else of the crew. I was stuck there to dream the entire dream. I angrily stomped my foot on the deck and glared at the moon. It taunted me with its stupid wide smile and chuckled at me.

"What?" I growled.

"You're so silly," the moon said. It was only when a face appeared behind the moon did I realize that the moon was actually a smile and it belonged to my captain. He was just a few inches from my face. I pushed him away, annoyed and slightly embarrassed at the closeness.

"What's silly is you floating."

"That's stupid. Floating is normal." He lazily circled around me and grinned wide as he passed my face. He kicked his feet a little and went higher into the sky. He did quite an impressive round of somersaults before he came back down to grin at me as if to say 'see? Perfectly normal.' The literal stars twinkled in his eyes as he waited for me to come with him. When he didn't reach for my hand, I knew that I would.

I slowly lifted my foot and then the other until it was like I was climbing a set of invisible stairs. I tucked both my knees to my chest and laid my head down onto them. I felt a warm feeling engulf me until I opened my eyes and noticed I was glowing. Again.

My hair was crackling quietly behind me and my skin was giving off a warm glow. I heard Luffy laugh behind me as he came up quickly. He brought his hands to my hair, but I didn't try to stop him, and brush his finger through the orangey flames. The fire never burned anything and for some reason, that made so much more sense than the fact that it was supposed to hurt when you touched it. In my dreams, fires just seemed too warm and friendly to actually want to harm you.

"I wish I could do that," he said with a little pout, hands still in my hair. I didn't bother pushing him away. He was like a moth, he'd be back in a second to feel the warmth radiating off of it.

"You have an entire galaxy in your eyes Luffy," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but your hair is all warm."

"But your hair changes color." I turned around to face him and reached for his head. His hair was slowly changing from a dark green to a blue to black-ish purple. Like a supernova. It was mesmerizing to watch as the colors formed cloud like shapes and the stars sprinkled in his hair twinkled.

"Does not."

"Yeah it does," I said irritably. We always had this conversation. He couldn't see his hair and I could never prove it. Whenever I tried to bring him to my room so he could look in the mirror, he'd always make an excuse or pretend he didn't hear me and fly up to the crow's nest.

"Whatever." He released his hold of my hair and drifted off towards the men's quarters. "Think I should wake them up?" He asked and smiled mischievously. He was already through the door before I could answer.

It was a distraction and he knew I knew it was a distraction. He never seemed to want to go near the women's quarters. It was like he was trying to avoid it at all costs. Why? That's a good question. I couldn't tell you. Not then anyway.

A loud crash emitted from the room shaking me out of my thoughts as Luffy zoomed past me in an instant. An angry Sanji came tearing out of the room. His hair was a mess as he chased after him, stopping only to compliment me on my radiant beauty and to say he liked what I did with my hair and that I should keep it like that. Luffy was laughing like a maniac as he weaved around the sails with Sanji pursuing him angrily. He let out a roar when Zoro pulled his leg from behind.

"Calm down dart brow."

"Shut up you shitty swordsman." He yanked his foot free from Zoro's grip and kicked at his hand. Zoro lazily evaded the kick and glared at him. Before a fight could start between the two, Usopp was already between them, playing as the mediator.

I heard a lullaby beginning behind me and turned to see Brook playing his violin. "Hello there Nami-san," he said with his skeleton grin. He was floating next to me, a peaceful look (well as peaceful as you can look as a skeleton) across his face. His melody was calming.

Behind his big, bushy afro, Franky was the one now chasing after Luffy, but it looked more like they were playing than him actually being mad at our captain. Chopper was giggling as he followed behind Luffy.

"Hey Brook," I replied.

The door to mine and Robin's room opened, I turned to look when I heard the noise, and saw her as she slowly came out. She looked well rested even after only having been asleep for three hours. She drifted over to me and Brook and observed the chaos around us. Usopp had gotten stuck in between Zoro's and Sanji's argument and already had a big bruise appearing on his arm. Luffy, Franky, and Chopper were zigzagging all around the deck.

"My, my," she sighed amusedly.

"Quite the rowdy crew we have," Brook said as he continued to play his violin. The lullaby still playing its calming melody. I felt a sort of drowsiness come over me. I stretched my back in an attempt to wake me up, but it didn't do much. Brook's song was making me tired. I wanted to sleep, which is weird because I already was.

"Yeah," I let out a yawn. "Pretty crazy." My eyes began to close on their own. I didn't mean for them to, but it just happened. I shook my head, albeit not that hard, and opened my eyes jadedly. It was rude to fall asleep in the middle of a conversation.

"It's alight Nami-san," Robin said reassuringly. "You can wake up now."

"Are you sure?" I mumbled. My eyes were closing on their own again. I felt myself sink slowly to the grassy deck.

"Yes of course. Everyone needs to rest their eyes. Though, I'm a skeleton and have no eyes to rest." Brook burst into a loud laugh as he remarkably continued his song, never once missing a note.

My side found itself on the grass and I released another yawn. It seemed like my dream was coming to an end (I hoped). Maybe if I was lucky, I would wake up into reality and not another dream.

I heard footsteps coming my way and I frowned slightly. No one walked, it was weird to. They stopped a few steps away from me and slowly sat down. I felt their shadow come over my face as they bent over to my ear. "Soon," they whispered.

I didn't recognize the voice.

* * *

Hm. So, that was my first attempt at one of Nami's confusing dream things. Hope it was good enough. There will be a few more so, hope you look forward to them! ^^

Woo. Mistakes? Yeah, I make them. Wanna help me out? ; D


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: No siree bob.

Sorry this one took so long to update. I had a lot of problems with writing it. I had to rewrite it like two time already and am just barely satisfied with it.

Oh and also, I think I'm just going to post a new chapter each Sunday from now on. This one is the exception though. I had a busy Saturday and no time to check it over.

Thank you guys for all the reviews! I'm happy you enjoyed the last chapter! Hopefully you'll like this one too. If not, maybe the next one! ^^

* * *

Let's back up. To the day after I passed out during lunch. Although I had lied about the exact reason as to why I was scared to Chopper, I decided to take the sleeping pills. I mean, I _was _having nightmares and maybe the pills could stop the noises too? It would be killing two birds with one stone.

And thus began my downfall to insanity.

* * *

The sun was a blinding coral as it hung in the blazing blue stretch of the sky. Just past lunch and already it was a dazzling shade of pink. Normally that didn't happen till late afternoon, or so my mind was telling me.

Beside me the mysterious witch as ancient as the sea was reciting a story. Of what about, I'm not quite sure. The amethyst jewels that were woven throughout the elegant twist of her midnight black hair were mildly distracting me. I felt a jealous twinge as I stared at them. If only my hair could be the beautiful.

Her violet eyes sparkled with excitement as she got further into her story, smile widening with each sentence. I couldn't really hear the words though.

There was a slight pause when she took a sip of her magic beverage. I closed my eyes and turned my head back toward the sky. I opened them to see that it was now a glaring teal. The clouds were a pale shade of yellow.

"Nami-san?" The witch questioned.

I blinked.

The sky was back to its regular blue. The clouds were missing.

Robin was sitting beside me in her lawn chair, sunglasses pulled to her head as she stared at me concerned.

"Yes Robin?" I asked as innocently as I could without it sounding too obvious that I hadn't been listening.

"You seemed to have dozed off again," she said politely. Although she didn't blatantly show it, there was a clear sign of worry in her eyes. For the past three days I had been slipping in and out of consciousness.

Ever since that time at lunch, I had been sleeping more than usual, even after a full nights rest. I didn't know how or when it happened, but one minute I was having a conversation or relaxing, or mapping and suddenly I was dreaming. Thing is, the dreams were of what I been doing only a few moments prior to me falling asleep with only a few alterations. The room might be green, the carpet orange, and instead of a map, I was drawing faces. Or, the conversation continues on normally, but Sanji might turn into an elephant and I won't even bat an eye! Or everything's normal and the _conversation_ becomes senseless. One time already I had a conversation with Zoro on why his swords liked having tea parties with the crew.

It was only two o'clock and I already had taken three naps. How can a person take three naps in one day? They might as well just go to bed and stay asleep.

"Nami-san." My head jerked up towards Robin. She looked like she was waiting for an answer, her fingers quietly drumming against her book. If I had looked closely I would have noticed it was the smaller book she had been reading yesterday. It was a horror novel. About ghosts.

But I didn't, so I obliviously ignored the glaring hint in my face.

"What? Sorry, what did you say?"

"I said are you feeling alright?"

"Wha- Yeah! I feel fine. Why?

She just looked at me with a straight face. I wasn't sure what to do, I didn't really feel like confiding my possible insanity (especially with Robin. She wouldn't laugh, but she would definitely make a dark remark and that usually meant she didn't believe something), so I looked away again to the sky. The sun wasn't pink anymore. As usual, the birds were gone too. I still didn't know why. It suddenly occurred to me that I could ask Robin.

So, as nonchalantly as I could, I changed the subject. "Have you noticed the birds?"

She blinked for a second. Seemed like I caught her off guard.

"The birds. They haven't been flying by in a while," I said trying to clear up the confusion.

Her expression suddenly became unreadable. "We're in the middle of the sea, they don't normally stray too far from land."

"We aren't that far. We only have four days left till the next island."

"Not too many birds leave their nests for so long," she said with a bored tone as if trying to brush off the conversation as pointless.

"Sea birds do though. They practically live on the ocean," I said, ignoring her sudden indifference. She was making perfectly reasonable explanations, but for some reason none of them seemed right to me. There was something off. I knew there was.

"True. Maybe there aren't any on the next island," she suggested offhandedly. Her eyes slowly traveled to her book as her thumb started flipping a page. I took that as a sign that she wanted to stop talking and continue her book. I released a long sigh and got up to stretch. There wasn't any way to persuade Robin.

"I guess that makes sense. I'll be in the aquarium if you need me." She nodded her head distractedly as she brought the book back to her attention. Again, I was oblivious and didn't notice the title.

It's _Haunted: Ghosts Around the Campfire_ if you're wondering.

I stayed there for a second longer waiting for a reply, noticing that one wouldn't be coming though I headed for the aquarium bar. I still wanted to stay outside, but I felt like I had just been dismissed. _That is all Nami, you are free to go. This isn't an option. I really want you to leave. So go. Don't let the door hit you on the way out._

I shook my head. I had been doing that a lot lately. Talking to myself I mean.

It's not like I didn't like the aquarium or anything. I mean, I really did like it (and still do). Especially since the fish were nice to watch, their colorful scales sometimes caught the light and reflect onto the mast and the ceiling and the quiet sound of the water was soothing. Whenever the ship got too chaotic it was the best place to sneak away to. It was like a safe haven for members of the crew who just want some peace and quiet for a while.

See, I love the aquarium. It's just I love the sun too. So, I was a little reluctant when I started walking towards the room. I wanted to feel the suns heat for a little longer.

A though crossed my mind on the way. What if I fell asleep again? The peace and quiet of the aquarium would more than likely put me to sleep. I wouldn't really have anything to warn me of the fact I was sleeping either since I was alone. Even if the room did change slightly, I wouldn't notice. In a dream, everything feels too real, even if it's absolute nonsense. It wasn't until after the dream that I noticed something was off and by then I could have slept for three hours. I didn't want to spend any more of the day unconscious, I wasted five hours already. Well, something like that. I wasn't sure on the exact time.

I decided to take a quick detour instead. I would get a book from the library, a blanket from one of the closets, and then I'd go sit on the couch in the aquarium and read. If it was an adventure book, maybe navigation, or possibly something with a little romance, it wouldn't be too hard to stay awake. I liked a good book just as much as Robin. Okay, maybe not as much as her, but pretty damn close.

* * *

I was on the couch, snuggled in my blanket, book in hand, and very content. The soft red fabric of the blanket was warm against my skin and the book (A romance/adventure) was one I hadn't read yet so I most definitely wouldn't fall asleep. I was feeling proud of myself as I finished the first five chapters.

The story was pretty interesting from the get go. It caught my attention and even had me liking the main hero by the first sentence. A rare feat for someone like me. He wasn't exactly the smartest guy, but already he was shown to be loyal to his friends and a good fighter. He was even a bit, dare I say, cute when he screwed something up. But, the heroine was a little annoying. She was constantly nagging the hero about everything he did, though I could relate a little as to why she did it.

"Still bugs me though," I said out loud for the fish to hear. They didn't really seem to mind if I talked to myself.

I heard someone chuckle from far away. I snapped my head up to see a dark figure in the door way, a puff of smoke escaped from their cigarette. The green curtains by the door shaded the intruder with the little light given off by the lamps just barely highlighting the toothy smile of the figure.

"Talking to yourself?" they asked, their voice too high to be Sanjis. It sounded feminine and oddly enough, familiar too.

I shrugged off my blanket, cautious of the intruder. It was best to keep my arms ready in case they came closer as I didn't have my clima tact with me, and I really hadn't been expecting company. The only way out of the aquarium was through the doorway or around the back hallway. Unfortunately, the only way to reach it was to pass the curtains. Maybe if I played harmless they'd let their guard down and it'd leave me enough time to escape.

"Mm, maybe."

The figure laughed quietly as they stepped through the doorway and into the soft blue light of the aquarium, revealing themselves to be…

"Belle-mere…" I gasped. But, she was…I thought…how could…

I felt my eyes prickle with tears. One ran down my cheek slowly as I sat frozen on the couch, my hands still clutching the book. I was just barely aware that my knuckles were white from my hard grip and that my hands were shaking visibly. I felt a shiver run down my spine.

And then, before I knew it, I was leaping off the couch and running to hug her. My tear stained face was buried in her shoulder, my arms wrapped tightly around her back, hands trembling as I gripped her shirt.

I felt her hug my head closer to her and I could actually make out a heartbeat. Just the sound of the strong rhythm made me fill up with so many emotions. I was crying loudly and yet, it was one of the happiest moments of my life. My mother was back, alive and healthy and I was there to be with her and see her face to face. I was there to hear her breath, to hear her live!

She placed a gentle kiss on top of my head and whispered the words, "I'm here Nami. It's alright." And then she rested her head on mine and began to rock me like when I was little girl afraid of the scary thunderstorms. A comforting and familiar gesture that just made me want to never let go of that moment. I wanted to stay in her arms forever. I felt safe with her. I missed her.

But like all good moments, they come to an end and this was no exception. She slowly released me from her hold, but I held on. She rubbed my shoulder softly until I finally looked up at her to see the small smile on her lips and the happy twinkle in her eyes. Her cigarette was missing, but I didn't question it for too long, I was too distracted by the fact that my dead mother was alive and with me.

"Hey kiddo," she said warmly. Such simple words, but filled with so much love. She stared down at me with the kindest and most loving expression I had ever seen on her and it only made me want to hug her more.

"Hey Belle-mere," I said back. She released her hold of me and took a step back. I let my arms fall to my side so she could see me entirely. She looked down at my red tank top and brown capris. She nodded her head in approval.

"You've certainly grown since the last I saw you. When was that…?" Her face scrunched slightly in thought.

I felt a cold feeling come over me. "You mean when Arlong…" I trailed off.

She focused back on me and shook her head, a small laugh escaped her lips. "No, no. Not that. I mean when you left with those pirates."

I was surprised. She had seen that? Even from her…her grave? She was there the whole time? I knew I had felt something, but I wasn't sure, I thought maybe I was just being silly. That it was just me thinking like a kid and hoping beyond hope that that small breeze was really a sign of Belle-Mere watching over me.

"What were their names?" She tapped a finger to her chin, continuing her thoughts. "Oh yeah," she snapped her fingers. "Fluffy, Kanji, Fudopp, and Toro right?"

Even with the overwhelming emotions, I managed to let out a loud laugh. The names were absolutely ridiculous! "No," I giggled. "You got all of them wrong." I saw her smile through my blurry vision. Tears were clouding my eyes again, but these were happy tears. The kind you get from laughing too hard. An airy giggle escaped her lips before she started to laugh along with me. For some reason though, that giggle almost made me stop. I felt like I heard it before…but I didn't' let it bug me for too long.

When I could breathe again without trouble, I continued. "I think you meant Luffy, Sanji, Usopp and Zoro."

"Ah! Those were the names." She nodded her head.

She went for the couch and plopped down, patting a seat next to her as she looked up at me. I smiled and sat down next to her. The blanket looked sad and forgotten when I looked over at it. I reached over the cushion until I had it in my hands. When I wrapped part of it around my shoulders, I offered the other half to Belle-Mere. She gladly accepted it and greedily brought the blanket around her shoulders, taking some of mine in the process. I didn't say anything though. I was still in that foggy, happy state.

It wasn't until the blanket was secure did I notice my book lying in between us. Its spine bent upwards toward the ceiling, some pages bent at the corners. Before I could take it and fix the damage though, Belle-Mere had already brought it upon herself to repair it. She tsked quietly as she folded back the corners of the pages with a gentle touch. The spine was already too cracked to be saved. A sigh of disappointment escaped my lips.

When she did all that she could, she read the title. "Searching for the sky?" An eyebrow rose as she looked at me questioningly. "I thought you only like navigation books."

"I do, but I like other books too. You can't expect me to only read just navigation. And besides, that's a good book!"

She laughed. "Is it? What's the genre?"

"A romantic adventure."

"You, romance?" She asked only half joking.

I hit her lightly on the arm. "Not the sappy crap. I mean just a little bit of it."

"Mm-hmm. I think I might have to hear more of this. What's it about?"

So I told her the basics of the story. "It's about this world where the sky is clouded over by this evil magic or something. The hero over heard a way to fix it and his friend decided to come with him." I took the book back from her and looked over the summary again. "That's what I got from the first five chapters and the summary anyway."

"Sounds interesting enough…" she trailed off distractedly as she searched her pockets for something. "What're the characters like?" Her hands were still busy hunting in her pockets.

"The hero's pretty likable. His friends though…"

"Aha!" she pulled out a box of cigarettes from her back pocket and held it proudly in the air. She picked one out and brought it to her lips. "So, what's wrong with his friend?" She was now on a hunt for her lighter.

"Well for starters, she's a bossy, nagging brat and is constantly scolding the hero."

She didn't say anything, so I went on. "She has a bad tendency to yell a lot too. She seems to have a bad temper and over reacts too quickly when she misunderstands something."

A chuckled escaped her lips.

"What?" I asked.

"Sounds like you." She brought the lighter to her cigarette and I'm not sure if it was a trick of the lighting or what, but when the flame flickered on, her hair appeared to have a faint glow.

I blinked. Then it hit me what she had just said. I felt offended. "I am not _nearly_ as bad as her!" I argued. My eyebrows furrowed into a frown as I glared at her. I brought my hand to her shoulder, not too hard but hard enough to know that I didn't like what she had said.

She looked at me pointedly, an amused spark in her eye. I looked at my hand then back at her. I sighed. "Okay, so maybe I might be a little hot headed."

A stream of smoke escaped her mouth as she let out another cheery laugh. With the subtlety of a pro, she changed the topic. "So how is you're captain? And his friend? The one with the nose." She tapped a finger to her nose and brought it out to make her point.

I paused before I replied, slightly thrown off by the sudden change in subject. "Where should I begin…? Well, they're idiotic like always. Just a week ago they learned a new game, a loud one, and I couldn't concentrate on my maps because of it. I had to punch them over the head in order to shut them up. I mean, seriously. Can't they be quiet for just one day in their lives? Not everyone has as much energy as they do!" I continued on a while longer with my rant until I notice the smug smirk on her face. I frowned only just understanding why she asked about them. "Shut up."

"I think you just proved my point." She cackled over exaggeratedly, trying to act like a villain who had just done a bad thing. I couldn't stay mad for too long and rolled my eyes. I had forgotten how silly she could be. A pang hit me in the heart. Of happiness or sadness, I wasn't sure.

"But still, I'm not as bad as her."

"Everyone has flaws Nami. Sometimes it takes someone else's to show before you see your own."

I pouted. "I don't have any flaws…"

"Nami," she said sternly.

"Okay, okay." I threw my hands up in the universal sign of 'I give up, I give in.'

She smiled. "So tell me about the hero."

Glad of the change to the more likable character and away from my self evaluation, I quickly went into describing him. "Well, he's not exactly the smartest guy but he makes up for that with his strength and loyalty. So far he's already saved like, three people and never once bragged about it."

"Kinda sounds like you captain," she released a puff of smoke as she spoke. "He seemed pretty selfless when he defeated Arlong."

"…What?" I asked. It took me a second to process that.

"When he beat the shit out of him and practically yelled to the whole world that you were his friend. He seemed pretty damn loyal there."

"Well, I guess but…"

"And no offence to him or anything, but he didn't seem very bright either. The whole thing with the teeth…" She shook her head and grimaced at me. I don't know why, but my face suddenly felt warmer. It might have been embarrassment or shame for my idiot captain.

"And like I said, he beat the shit out of Arlong. Strength. Bam. Bingo." She smirked at me. Before I could reply she started, "Now let me guess, the friend is the hero's love interest right?"

I felt a full blown blush explode over my face. I wanted to hide under the blanket. Why the hell was she saying that? I wasn't anything like the girl and Luffy wasn't anything like the hero. With all that nonsense she was spouting, it probably wouldn't leave my head for days which would result into very awkward and uncomfortable situations whenever Luffy came by. I hit the back of my head against the cough and groaned. "Beelleee-Merreee!"

When she laughed, her glowing hair began to shine brighter. It became a blind fluorescent pink and I had to squint in order to look at her.

It was when everything around me began to turn white that I started to worry. I saw the smile wipe right off her face and she quickly wrapped her arms around me. Before her face got lost behind my back, I saw worry.

"Nami, I don't have long," she whispered in my ear. "I only have a few seconds left."

I felt a trickled of sweat run down my face. A sudden sense of déjà vu came over me.

"I just want you to know," my eyes widened.

Please, oh God please, don't say it.

"I love you very much."

And the room around me became a blinding white and I was forced to shut my eyes.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, there were blue and green dots spotting my vision. I was outside in the warm sun, a gentle breeze pushing my bangs across my forehead. My lawn chair was soft underneath me.

"Nami-san." I turned my head to see Robin worriedly looking at me.

"Yes Robin?"

"You seemed to have dozed off again."

I looked at her weirdly. Why was she there? Why wasn't I in the aquarium? Where was Belle-Mere? My eyes began to sting.

And suddenly, out of nowhere, I began to cry. Like full blown out sobbing. My heart felt like it was ripped from my chest. I felt like I had lost a part of me. Maybe it was because I finally remembered that the log pose was broken. Or maybe it was because of my dream and the fact that I saw Belle-mere again. Maybe it was because it had felt so real and I finally got the chance to hug her and see her again and I wasted the precious time I had with her over arguing about a book. I had a chance to speak with her and it wasn't even real. I didn't even think of Nojiko and the guilt began to crush me. I sobbed harder.

My head hurt. My heart hurt. I just didn't want to be awake anymore. I felt a hand begin to stroke my hair in a smoothing pattern. It did little to comfort me.

I missed Belle-mere. I missed my mother.

I still do.

* * *

Welp, thar she is. Like I said, I had problems with it. It's a little rougher than the others but...meh. When I have time, maybe I'll go over it and make the proper corrections.

So now this is officially the longest chapter. Woo! Go me! Hope it made up for the longer wait even with its rough-ish-ness. : )

As always, feel free to correct the mistakes that are obviously there! Seriously, I had little to no time to fix the usual ones. Blah.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do believe that I am not the owner of the brilliance that is One Piece.

So, like I promised, here's the next chapter! : )

At first, I was going to make most of these separate chapters, but then I thought that would take too long and you guys would probably get bored. So I just combined the second day all together. Same thing will be for the third day! ^^

I just wanna thank you guys for the great reviews you've been leaving! I really do appreciate them. Thanks for the support and positive feedback! The confusion will be cleared up in later chapters, just sit back and relax and let the story unwind until then okay? : D

* * *

The bird was actually on time today (and the first one I had seen in ages). With a quick thank you and the required amount of Beli, I opened the paper to see what was going on with the world. We had been out of touch for days.

* * *

The floor was dirty, covered in dust and grime. It hadn't been cleaned in a while. Maybe I could do it later. Some of the cracks had small pieces of gold stuck in between, even a few small gemstones. How did that happen? I made a note to pick them up when I could.

The lights were off, shrouding the room in darkness. The shadows around me were dark and tall, taking the form of trees. A bird was happily singing its song in the calm of the evening, the rustling of the leaves its harmony. They were the sounds of day coming to its end.

My bed beneath me was hard like a wooden pier, my legs dangled of the edge, my feet in the water swirling around. Only it wasn't water. I was on my bed.

Then on a pier, then on my bed.

Back on the pier. I had the feeling that I was waiting for someone. A friend maybe, or a family member.

My eyes were tired and puffy. My head was pounding lightly, a slight headache. I was barely able to take in any air my nose was so stuffy and my face was sticky from the recently shed tears.

Meltdown. I had cried earlier, but what about? I was too happy to have cried. The nice summer evening was too distracting. I couldn't think straight.

Why was my face sticky again?

A few footsteps sounded behind me. I turned to see an old boy, no wait, a young man? He was tall and wiry, dressed in a red vest and worn shorts, a straw hat placed on his head. A small scar was under his eye.

Was he who I was waiting for?

His striking blue eyes pierced through my own. They blazed with a sort of anxious resolve.

Why couldn't I breathe?

He finally reached me and hesitated before he sat down. I stared at his eyes the whole while. He seemed worried, scared even as he slowly sat beside me. Even his feet hesitated before entering the water. When his toes relaxed into the coolness of the still ocean, a look I couldn't place came over his face. What was it? It made me think of the pure happiness you feel when you do something you hadn't in a while, something you always enjoyed doing but weren't able to do. Had he been away from the ocean that long?

A sigh escaped from his lips as he bent his head back, straw hat slipping off to his back as he did so. His eyes closed.

My head was pounding. Why was that?

He sat like that for a while. I felt like I was watching a private moment, so I looked away back towards the ocean. The gold beneath my feat glittered with the slowly setting sun. Not quite sunset though, the sky was still too blue.

"Nami."

I startled at his voice. It was deeper than I thought it would be. It didn't fit well with his face and gave me a feeling of sadness for some reason. Wonder why that was?

"Who's Nami?" the question left my mouth before I could even think about it.

From the corner of my eye, the man beside me stiffened. I heard him mumble something. Something like 'not good.' From a distance, the bird had gone silent. The trees stopped rustling.

My head was hurting even more now. The sun was smearing, its pink color mixing into a purple with the sky. The water was sinking, almost as if there was a plug at the bottom of the ocean.

I felt a hand grab my arm and suddenly, everything was back to normal with only a slight blur, but the sun had already sunk halfway beneath the ocean. How much time passed? I felt sleepy.

"Not yet," he said in a panicked tone.

I blinked and looked half lidded at the hand on my arm. My eyes trailed up until they met a face. His eyes were a darker blue now.

"Who are you?" I asked tiredly. His face was blurring to a blob of color. His eyes were the only solid thing.

"Listen. You need to focus just a litt-"

Before he could finish, the sun sank fully into the sea and everything turned black.

I looked around to see the floorboards again. The gold was gone. The gemstones too.

The lights were off and my room was covered in shadows.

I blinked, my dream already slipping away from me.

Did I doze off again?

* * *

What surprised me was how much trouble the supernovas were stirring up. Already an entire island was under the control of one, several marine ships were left barren after a raid, and 2,000 civilian deaths in total.

What was with these guys?

* * *

It was the middle of the night. Everything was sleeping.

I had left the lights off, yet something was shining. I could see it through my blanket. Had Robin left something on while I was sleeping? No, she was too responsible.

What was it then?

I sat up and looked around. Instantly, my eyes landed on the mirror. It was glowing softly. Wisps of silver swirls came towards me, like a gentle guidance. '_Come_' they whispered. '_Come closer and see.'_ they released tiny giggles as they came nearer.

A numb peacefulness settled over me. I felt happy, I felt calm, I felt like all my problems had been lifted from my shoulders. The mist was my friend, it wouldn't hurt me.

Gladly throwing my blanket off, my feet already on the wooden floor, I took a slow step towards the mirror. The silver swirls curled around me, blowing small strands of hair out to my ears. They felt cool as they pulled me closer to the mirror. I was clumsy on the way, slightly off balance as I swayed from left to right.

Just a few steps away from the mirror I hesitated, a sudden fear washing away the false happiness, before the swirls lightly pushed me.

A dead world was displayed before my eyes. They trees were dry and gray, the ground looked cold with only rocks and dead grass to cover it. The sky was hidden by thick, dark clouds. A storm would be coming soon, no doubt.

The only source of color was a girl running through the forest. Her hair was a flaming orange, her shirt a bright yellow. She had what appeared to be a map in her hands. She was frantically searching all around her, and it wasn't until I saw her face that I noticed.

The girl was me.

I was covered in the gray mud, my hair slightly frizzed and tangled. I looked like I had been running for hours. I seemed lost, which was silly because I was holding a map. What was I doing?

The me in the mirror saw something. My eyes squinted to see it better and widened. I started to run towards it, the thing I had been looking for. I looked excited, a face of triumph.

The image changed before I reached it. I was on my hands and knees, sweat was pouring down my face. I was hidden in a grove of dead trees, the sun was out. The mirror gave it a pinkish tint. I was hunched over, digging a hole in the ground. Beside me was a small bag green in color. My hands were digging madly, like I was in a hurry. I reach for something in the bag and brought out a fist. I couldn't see what it was I had taken out.

While I was burying it, I was looking around me. I looked paranoid with every jerk of my head, my hair flying in opposite directions. Suddenly, I turned facing the mirror, my eyes met my own. I was staring directly at me. My eyes were hard and angry.

The mirror faded. The swirls were gone.

My normal reflection was staring back at me. My eyes were wide, scared and confused.

Like a kid, I ran for my covers and hid under them. My blanket would keep me safe, no one could see me if my eyes were closed. I was safe as long as I stayed away from the mirror.

* * *

As I got further into the article, it became harder and harder to read. The words were beginning to blend and blur into total nonsense. They were swerving across the page forming sentences about islands, about deaths, about a curse, even something about a lion. They swirled and twirled and spun across the page for a long time.

It wasn't until I shook the paper that they finally stop.

What I read confused me.

* * *

I woke up to loud crashes. Sanji was yelling again, someone laughed, and another was shrieking for Sanji to stop. What sounded like dishes crashed hard onto the floor, forcing Sanji into a deeper, much louder rage. Footsteps ran harshly from across the deck.

I sighed, sat up and got ready for the morning. It wasn't until I had just opened the door, that I Luffy came tearing through with an angered Sanji flying after him.

"You shitty captain! What the hell do you think you're doing, barging into Namis room?!" He aimed a kick towards said captain's face.

He dodged it and whined. "You came in it to, stupid." He dodged the life threatening kicked aimed far lower than what was fair.

"I only came to rid Nami of your nuisancey!"

"That's not even a word!"

"Shut up!" I brought my fists over both their heads. "Cut it out already and get out of my room!"

I heard Luffy mutter a 'stingy,' before quickly leaving when I gave him a glare. Sanji however stayed behind to apologize for disrupting my peace and begged for forgiveness as he had broken a lamp and a chair from his attempt at punishing Luffy.

I smiled at him and told him it was fine, the only punishment he would receive is the now 200,000 Beli added to his debt. I heard him stifle a sob when he walked out the room.

That was probably the happiest I had been in a while. I love money, anything related to money could cheer me up. It's a shame though that the crew still hasn't even attempted at paying off their debts. I'll have to get on that soon.

When I entered the kitchen, I knew it was going to be crazier than usual. With all the shouting and yelling on luffys part, the laughing from Usopp and Chopper, Frankys constant shouts of approval, and Sanjis attempts at settling them down, it was undeniable.

I took a seat next to Robin who gave me a sympathetic smile. After I had told her about _why_ I cried yesterday, she had been a little more careful with me. She didn't want to upset me which was really nice of her. She even kept it quiet from the others. Just told them that I was tired from working on maps the other night. It seemed I was in debt to another crew member now.

The first is Luffy if you're wondering.

Breakfast was delicious! I swear Sanji went all out that morning. There were pancakes, waffles, various toppings to choose from, muffins, eggs, and tons of bacon and sausage (mostly for Luffy). Needles to say, everyone's plates were stack higher than their heads.

From across the table, Luffy and Chopper were pretending to be walruses again. Their chop sticks in their noses and mouths. Usopp was attempting at stacking as many waffles as he could in their mouths. I think it was a contest or something. Anyways, Luffy was winning of course, his mouth being able to stretch and all, but Chopper was doing fairly well. He even changed forms so his mouth could get bigger.

It was both amusing and disgusting, every time they laughed, some of their food would fly out of their mouths. I had already been hit by strawberries, chocolate chips, and bananas. Of course my anger was growing towards the end of it. They were ruining my shirt (teal with blue stripes). I was already sticky from the flying fruit and there was no doubt my shirt would have chocolate stains if I didn't wash it soon. It wasn't until a glob of sticky syrup came charging at me and hit me in the face, dripped down to my shirt and pants, that I snapped.

I felt my face burn with anger. That was a new shirt and it was expensive! My hand snapped the fork I had been holding.

I could feel everyone tense when our eyes connected. "Why you…!" I threw a fist full of chocolate chips at my moron of a captain before he could even utter an apology.

"Hey!" I saw his brows furrow in annoyance. "I didn't do it on purpose!"

"You ruined my new to-!"

I was interrupted by a mouth full of bananas. I spat them out and glared at him. Oh-ho, he was brave I'll give him that.

"That's it," I seethed. I tossed what was left of my plate at him and laughed as he got smothered. His hair was sticky with syrup and a pancake was sitting comically on his head. It would take him _hours _to get that out.

"Food fight!" someone shouted. I wasn't sure who, I was too focused on my prey. Luffy had a giant target painted on his face and I was not going to miss another chance to get him.

Instantly, food was flying everywhere. Someone's sausages flew past my face and into Sanji. He looked horror struck as his food was thrown about the table. He glared a little ways off from me. He grabbed for a bowl filled with blueberries and it soared straight into the smirking swordsman.

Usopp was using his sling shot to shoot strawberries at Brook who was splashing tea onto everyone. An oddly large strawberry was stuck in his eye-socket. Franky was shooting pancakes through his canons at Chopper and Robin. Chopper squeal as he ducked behind his plate and tossed bacon in Frankys general direction. Robin used her hands as a shield and gave me a this-is-ridiculous-but-amusing look. She was too mature to actually participate in the food fight.

Her loss I guess. I could be immature for a little while. Let me be a kid now and then.

Anyway, I was still pissed about my shirt. I grabbed some of the hard boiled eggs and drew back my arm to throw. I focused on Luffy and with no mercy, released my ammo. I smirked when it hit. Ha!

It was when I reached for another handful of eggs that I noticed something weird. On my left wrist, the one with the bracelet, the one with the log pose. The two needles left moving were slowing down. I froze.

Was it supposed to do that? It wasn't supposed to do that. Why was it doing that?!

I quickly ducked underneath the table to look at it. I could see everyone's feet from under the table. Already the floor was covered with food and their shoes were filthy. I grimaced when I sat down. My clothes were officially stained.

I brought my concentration back to the log pose. The two needles were moving at the slowest pace I had ever seen. They were moving about as fast as my regular heart beat. I felt my pulse quicken with fear.

The one was still frozen though. Completely still. Silent. Dead. I felt a wave of guilt hit me hard. What was happening? How was I supposed to fix the needles?

Why didn't they give me a manual for this thing?!

"Heeheehee!"

I looked up. A little boy was standing at the very end by Zoros feet. He was looking directly at me, a sweet smile on his face. If it wasn't for the transparent body and blue-ish skin, I might've said he was cute.

His smile widened when our eyes met. He gave me a tiny wave, fingers wiggling shyly.

I didn't know what to do there were just too many options. I wanted to faint, I wanted to scream, I wanted to run away, and I wanted to cry. Unbelievably, I just waved back, stunned expression on my face.

The little boy let out a giggle.

It was him.

He slowly, as if taunting me, brought his leg back. He was turned towards Zoro just about to kick him. A mischievous smile replaced his sweet one when he saw me reach out to stop him.

"No what're-! Sto-"

His eyes twinkled when he swung his foot. He kicked it hard. Right into Zoro's shin. He let out a loud yelp and instantly blamed Sanji.

The little boy then went over to Usopp, smile never leaving his face. He kicked him.

"Ow! Chopper what're you doing?"

"What?"

He kicked him again.

"Ouch! Who's doing that?!"

He continued to do this to the others. Now, they were all yelling at each other, furious that they would resort to kicking. It was just a food fight. They didn't need to actually fight. Even Robin was raising her voice a bit, although she was trying to calm the others down. It didn't work however, as their voices only got louder.

It was only Luffy who remained unharmed. The little boy simple walked over to him and looked at me. He pointed at Luffy feverishly. His smile was replaced with a serious expression. I could feel the cold temperature radiating off his transparent body. His eyes were blue and the determination burning in them almost made them seem alive.

He said something but I couldn't make it out. The yelling from above was too loud.

"What?" I whispered. I don't know why I did, I just felt that I had to. He was a few feet away, how did I expect him to hear me?

He repeated it, but the only word I could make out was 'him.'

With a final point of his finger, the boy disappeared right in front of me. The intense blue of his eyes were the last thing to go.

I shuddered.

I was becoming more unstable by the minute.

* * *

Was it a poem? Or lyrics? Or maybe a weekly riddle to entertain the readers?

If it was, they'd have given better clues. Or a hint on what the general topic was.

Why did it seem so depressing? What the hell did the sun have to do with anything?

* * *

After the whole breakfast fiasco, I went into my room to change clothes. There was no saving my shirt, it was totally useless, so I grudgingly threw it into the trashcan beside my table. It was sad to see such a cute top be wasted after only wearing it once.

I changed into an old T-shirt before choosing a tank top and a pair of shorts, grabbed my towel and headed for the bathroom.

At least, I was until I opened the door.

I ran face first into something hard. I squeezed an eye open to see an 'x' shaped scar starring me in the face. I blinked a bit until I lifter my eyes upwards. They connected with a smile that resembled the moon. When I reached their eyes, I swear I saw meteors zooming by.

It took me a moment to realize who I was staring at.

"Luffy!" I gasped. My neck was craned back to see that even though his hair was covered by his straw hat, I could still see the purple and pink colors shifting in his hair. I quickly looked towards the ground to see his him floating several feet off the ground. I released another gasp. "What're you doing off the ground?"

My eyes widened even more when he laughed. "What're you talking about? Everyone's always off the ground! Where've you been huh?" He began to float backwards as he gave me space to come with him. I followed him in awe, forgetting completely about the towel and clothes. How was he doing that?

It wasn't until I was outside that I finally noticed something wasn't right. I'm not sure what it was that triggered me to notice it, but I did. I couldn't place what was off, but I had the funny feeling. I was too distracted to focus on it for long though.

It was the sky, too stunning to pay attention to anything else. The sky was dark as night, the stars were bigger than usual, mini explosions of color dotted the sky, and there was an endless meteor shower going on above our heads.

Others like to call them shooting stars, but they aren't really. They're just pieces of heated rock caught in the atmosphere. I found myself wishing on one anyway, wishing that I could float too. When I opened my eyes, I was surprised to see I was already higher than Luffy. He was smiling widely at me. "See! There you go!" He came towards me, kicking his feet as if he was swimming. "Nami you should play with me!" He grinned as he began to do circles around me excitedly.

"What about Usopp or Chopper?"

"They're all sleeping. Nobody likes staying up for the shooting stars anymore," he pouted.

"Why?" I was truly shocked. "They're beautiful…" I looked up at the sky again. They really were breath taking, seeing so many stars in the sky, the meteors shooting past, and not to mention the faint glow of the moon. I could watch the sky for hours and never get bored.

"Tag," I heard him whisper tauntingly near my ear. It made me freeze before I felt the finger poking my shoulder. The sudden competitive spirit boiled up in me. I was _so _going to kick his ass. After all, I was the best player on the ship. He wouldn't be able to escape me.

I ate my words. He was surprisingly a lot harder to catch when he was floating all over the place. I don't know how long, but he had been floating by _far _much longer than me which meant he was better at changing directions. Every time I tried to turn left, my legs would fling out, leaving my upper body behind. Same with turning right.

It wasn't until thirty minutes had past of my making a fool of myself and Luffy laughing like a maniac that I finally felt my anger flare. And so suddenly, literally out of nowhere, my hair began to glow. Like, it was _on fire!_ I can't tell you how freaked out I was at first. I was literally shouting at luffy to help me put it out.

He was no help of course. His eyes filled with even more sparkles than usual as he came running up to me shouting his amazement incoherently. Without even a single moment of hesitation, he shoved his whole hand into my blazing hair. I was yelling at him to stop, to stop being an idiot, and that the fire would _burn his skin off in a most painful way and turn his rubber bones to ash and there was no way his stretching could fix it if he didn't take his hand back. _He didn't listen.

It took me a while to stop shouting warnings and threats to notice that Luffy wasn't screaming in agony. He had a huge smile on his face as he brought his hands in and out of my hair. With the anticlimactic ending, I released a defeated sigh and rolled my eyes.

Then, an idea hit me. I cunning smile found my face as I slowly turned towards Luffy. He blinked at me when I slowly raised my hand to his face. I gently rested my palm on his cheek, relishing the moment, I paused until I finally said, "Tag, you're it!"

I ran away laughing when he finally realized what just happened.

"Oi! Nami, that's no fair!"

* * *

Trust what you see

There lies a meaning beneath it all

Don't hesitate, don't waver

Follow the moon, lead the way

It all becomes clear

When the flames of the sun

Die

* * *

I'm really not good at writing poems/riddles. I tried my best.

Now, all we have is maybe two/three more chapters until they reach the island! YAY! Lets celebrate! Woo! Party time!

Go right ahead and rip me to shreds. Tell me whats wrong so I can fix it! : )

Oh yeah and hey! So I thought, for once I should reply to reviews. Show my appreciation once in a while! If I seem too awkward and go off into a random tangent, feel free to ignore me and pretend you never read anything! I have a free bar of brain soap right here if you need it.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Nay.

Hey guys...

Here's the new chapter.

ehehe...sorry its late!

* * *

I was lost again. I could tell it was a dream or a hallucination or whatever and I honestly didn't care and that's what scared me. I enjoyed my dreams too much to actually want to escape them, which of course, wasn't good because I was letting myself get lost in a world of lies.

* * *

The mirror was showing me images again. The forest looked more alive than last time. The skeleton leaves were slowly losing their brown color and changing back to the color of life, the dry grayness of the tree bark was less apparent, and there were actual living creatures inhabiting the branches.

With a gentle breeze from the wind, the budding blossoms on the branches rustled with life, causing the animals to peak their heads from all around. There were few, but small hints of families in the making were sprinkled about the awakening limbs of the trees.

To most, it wouldn't really be a beautiful sight, but compared to before, it was absolutely gorgeous in my eyes.

I seemed more scratched up than last time, my hair shooting off in different directions, and my shirt fraying at the bottom with a large cut splitting it in half at the stomach. What appeared to be dried blood stained the yellow material. Somewhere in the back of my mind I noticed it was the yellow tank top with blue beads. I felt a tug of loss in my gut. It was a cute shirt.

I had an annoyed look on my face, but my eyes were searching wildly with a fearful anxiety. It seemed every time I was looking for something, I was never calm.

What was I looking for?

* * *

The words were changing again, forming the next meaningless riddle. It was about the moon this time.

Believe what you know

It won't ever fail you

Be cautious, be forward

Lead the sun, follow behind

The heart will understand

When the light within the moon

Lives

What the hell was that supposed to mean?

* * *

The giggles wouldn't leave me alone. Ever since I saw the ghost kid, they had been assaulting my ears every few hours. They sounded less creepy now and more like regular kids having fun. Maybe it was because I now had a face to at least one of the ghostly giggles.

Sometimes they'd ask me questions and other times they just tell me stories of the ocean. Fairytales so old no one had heard of them in centuries. I swear one of them had said the stories were around since before the Void Century.

For some reason, they didn't bother me as much anymore. What freaked me out now was that I knew there were…'people' other than the crew on the Thousand Sunny. What scared me was that they had been here since day one. Maybe even longer. But what truly frightened me was that I couldn't see them, but they could see me and do whatever they wanted. I was at the mercy of disembodied voices. They could definitely do more than giggle and talk. That much I was sure of.

* * *

An annoying buzzing sound was in my ear.

_Buzz buzz buzz._

It wouldn't go away. I couldn't concentrate on my maps.

Luffy was running past. I could tell by the loud clapping of his sandals.

Chopper followed after him. _Clip-clop._

Then Usopp. _Thump thump._

The giggling wouldn't shut up.

* * *

I kept getting this feeling that the kid had tried speaking with me before. That he had tried communicating with me many times, but only succeeded yesterday at lunch when the food fight started. I don't know why it was then that it finally worked, but it did. He had kicked everyone, Sanji, Zoro, Usopp, Franky, Chopper, Robin, and Brook…but not Luffy. The only clue I had as to why not was that the kid wanted me to know something important about him, that he was special in some way. Or maybe it was a warning? I couldn't really make out what he had said; all I really got was 'him.' His voice had a breathy sound, like he was talking in a whisper.

Was there something wrong with Luffy? Was he going to do something? Something bad?

* * *

"Your hairs changing again," I pointed out.

"Is not."

"Come on, I can show you." I grabbed for his hand. He didn't pull back when I started dragging him to my room.

"How?"

"With my mirror, duh."

He jerked his hand back.

"Uh…I don't wanna."

"Why not?"

I never got the answer. I was back on deck. Robin was casually reading a book beside me.

I blinked.

* * *

I was in trouble with Chopper.

He found out I was taking more sleeping pills than I should and took them away from me. It didn't upset me in the slightest though. They weren't working. I only took them because it was the only way to have a dreamless sleep.

But they only lasted for an hour before I found myself on the same starry night with the floating crew.

I felt like I hadn't slept in days because of all those dreams or hallucinations or whatever. They wouldn't let me rest and they wouldn't let me know when they were happening. I felt as if I had been awake since the whole shebang started.

My eyes felt heavy, my shoulders were sagging, and my steps were heavy with fatigue. Of course I tried to hide it and everything, but you know, sometimes you can't be a good actor when your bat shit crazy out of your mind from lack of sleep. Or just bat shit crazy in general.

The crew started to notice the morning of the fifth day. I hadn't exactly tried to hide it. It was when I accidently poured syrup onto my lap instead of my pancakes that Chopper finally snapped and told me to stop taking the pills. Too many bad side effects. Too risky. They weren't even helping me sleep. Too tired to even argue, I just nodded my head and said something along the lines of "You're right Chopper. I should've listened to you. I am so sorry." I tried to act all innocent and fortunately for me, that got everyone off my case and their suspicions were lifted.

I wished the sleeping pills were the source of all my worries.

* * *

I was bent over the railing at five in the evening. The waves were gently rocking Sunny.

I was feeling a strange urge to jump into the ocean. The water looked so warm and inviting, the foam spraying and exploding like a celebration of some sort. The blue was a pretty teal and it reminded me of a summer's island sea.

If I jumped, nobody would find me. No one was on deck besides a sleeping swordsman. I could slip into the ocean and sleep there for eternity and I wouldn't have to worry about going crazy. Only I could dub myself sane or insane and no worries would come from it.

I could live the life I wanted in the sea. A life of dreams.

I slowly stood up straight and gripped the railing. I wasn't in my right mind (I hadn't been for days). I felt a smile that wasn't my own creep across my face, wicked and delusional.

I raised my foot, prepared to climb over.

"What are you doing?" I heard somebody grunt.

I froze mid climb. My mind was blurry with confusion. Why was I stopping? The ocean would accept me with open arms. I brought my unfocused eyes downward and stared down to the waiting water below. I blinked, stunned. The water was red.

Blood red.

It suddenly dawned on me that I was attempting to jump into the ocean. The middle of the ocean. Cold, dark, and soulless at the bottom. Into the suffocating water.

I slowly brought my foot down and stared. The red was relentless and refused to fade.

"Are you deaf? What the _hell_ were you doing?"

I turned to look at Zoro. He was across the deck, arms folded, his piercing stare keeping me in place. I couldn't make a run for it.

I felt like his prey and he was about to pounce. I had nothing to fear though; Zoro never really cared much of blabbing things to people. He slept most of the time anyway. There were times where he could be gullible. If I played it right, he would believe me or at least leave me alone. I was the second best liar on the ship after all.

I kept my face straight and looked him in the eye. "I thought I saw something fall."

"So you climbed the railing to get a closer look?" His eye narrowed and tone sarcastic. Honestly, I didn't know he could use sarcasm, only brutal honesty and serious idiocy.

I shrugged. "Stupid I know."

He studied me for a while, but he must have believed me or he stopped caring because he was fast asleep a few minutes later.

* * *

Someone kept whispering my name while I was playing cards.

It didn't make much sense considering everyone was arguing over how unfair the game was leaving no one to be saying anything to me, which only meant the ghost kids was invading my sanity again.

'_Naaammiiii.'_

I shook my head slightly so as not to catch anyone's attention.

'_Namiii.'_

I swatted my hand to my ear.

'_Naamiiii.'_

"Shut up," I muttered under my breath.

'_Play with us Nami!'_

They giggled together.

"Stop it." My eyebrows furrowed.

'_You've been playing with them all day!'_

'_Play with us!'_

'_Yeah Nami, play with us!'_

'_It's our turn!'_

I clenched my teeth. "Shut. Up." I couldn't talk to them in front of the crew. No, if I was to be crazy at least let me be alone for it. I didn't need them becoming even more careful around me. I didn't need them knowing I was going out of my mind.

They giggled. I felt wind rush ahead of me then to my side like they were chasing a circle around me.

'_Play with us,' _they chanted.

'_It's our turn!'_

'_We've been waiting for days!'_

Days?

'_We've been waiting for a week!'_

I paled. A week?

They never mentioned that.

'_We wanted to play with you oh so badly!'_

'_But you just wouldn't pay attention!'_

'_So we broke your log pose.'_

"You _what?!_" I snapped.

Everything stopped. It was only in the absolute silence that I realized what I had done and found everyone staring at me with confused looks. They looked tense at my expression and it made sense considering I was shaking with rage. My face was probably red and I wouldn't be surprised if fire was visibly burning in my eyes.

Sanji bravely broke the silence. "I-is," he cleared his throat. "Is everything alright Nami-swan?" He looked at me with worried puppy-dog eyes.

I forced myself to calm down and brought an apologetic smile on my face, hoping to hide as much fury as I could. "Yes. Sorry Sanji-kun. I'm just a little tired is all."

"Are you sure? I could make you something if you want…? Some coffee?"

I shook my head and declined as politely as I could. "That's fine."

Everyone went back to playing cards, but Zoro had his eye on me for the rest of the game. He was still suspicious and would more than likely confront me later, but I was safe for now so I released a sigh of relief and retreated back into myself.

'_Don't worry Nami.'_

Shit.

'_Your log pose isn't broken fully.'_

'_You still have two needles.'_

'_You'll be fine.'_

They giggled and spoke a few more words of encouragement and politely shoved my head to the log pose to show me that they were speaking the truth.

'_See, two needles!'_

'_We haven't broken it!'_

One needle was waving strongly, not missing a single beat; however the other one was much weaker. I had assumed it was because it was the safer island until I heard them whisper something else.

'_Yet.'_

My blood felt cold.

* * *

It was nine at night when I finally tried to stop it. Or at least decided I was going to try and stop it.

A finale image snapped me out of the hallucinations. It was one of Genzo and Nojiko. They were on board talking with each other as they took care of my trees. Nojiko looked older, her hair was longer and had a new tattoo, but Genzo looked the same as ever. For some reason, he had his old pinwheel back on his hat.

I started walking up to them, excited to see them (even though I knew they weren't real). It had been too long since I left Cocoyashi.

I guess Genzo cracked a joke or something because Nojiko broke out into a loud laugh, eyes squeezed shut, doubled over, and clutching her sides. Genzo had a wide, warm smile on his face and his eyes were twinkling with mischief. It seemed like a happy moment and I wanted to join in.

So, I walked faster and took wider steps. I was just about to call out to them when they turned to me. Their eyes were the prettiest shade of blue I had ever seen, resembling the ocean as it neared the shore. For some reason, they unsettled me.

They didn't look human.

The fact that their mouths were set in eerie smiles didn't help much to dissuade my opinion.

I suddenly felt a dread wash over me. My legs moved on their own, mechanical and heavy as lead. I was barely a few feet away from them when my feet finally decided to stop. Unfortunately they glued themselves to the spot.

"Nami," Nojiko said in a voice that wasn't hers, "You made it!"

Genzo chuckled. It sounded younger than it should have. Lighter. Airier. "Glad to have you here Nami."

I forced a smile, too nervous to actually say something. With the way their eyes were watching me I had a feeling that if I said something wrong or did something out of place, they would undoubtedly rid their masks and reveal their real faces. I did _not _want to see those. No way, no how. You can't make me.

"Your new ship is amazing!" Not Nijiko practically squealed. Very out of character I might add. "It's so huge and I can't believe you have a whole _park _on your ship!" Something of a fierce look flashed in her eyes when she said that, but it left too quickly for me to work out what it meant.

"How is it even possible?" Not Genzo mumbled. "You even have trees." He turned his head towards my tangerine trees and eyed them with an unreadable stare. He couldn't seem to recognize that they were our trees, straight from Cocayashi village.

"It's more like a yard actually," I muttered quietly under my breath. Didn't want them hearing me. My voice was slightly shaky. I cleared my throat and tired to regain my composure. "Yeah, it is pretty cool huh? The trees even grow tangerines." I smiled with false enthusiasm as my feet forced themselves to reach for a branch.

"You mean like actual tangerines?" The fake Nojiko stood behind me as she watched me grab for a tangerine. I wasn't sure to reach for a ripe one or just any one in general. After all, it was a dream so if I picked one premature then it wouldn't be too big of a deal but if I didn't pick a ripe one, they might get suspicious. But then again, my dreams were never really hostile to me. Yet, they had been trying to make me jump from the ship…

Decisions, decisions.

I picked one that looked ready. It fit nicely in my palm as I turned to Nojiko. Her blue eyes were on the tangerine, examining it with an odd intensity, almost as if she was receiving information or something. A tiny flash in her eyes and then she was looking up at me, creepy smile and all. "It looks delicious."

Her eyes suddenly went to their original color, as if she was satisfied with something. Immediately I calmed down.

I really shouldn't have.

I smiled brightly, excited to show off my tangerines to the girl who at least resembled my sister. "Yeah, they are! I look after them everyday. You have no idea how hard it is with all the idiots in my crew running around and shouting like little kids." I began to brag about my hard work and efforts at taking care of my trees. How I pruned them, watered them, and even fed them at times. You know, with plant food. Usopp and Robin even taught me a few tricks on how to make them a litter healthier.

As I got further into my gloating, I could see their faces darkening but not really paying any mind to it. The happier I got, the bluer their eyes became. They seemed almost angry that I cared so much about my trees.

"You see, Usopp showed me that if yo-"

"Enough," Genzo growled. Yes, growled. His lips were set in a snarl and his eyes were burning holes into the tangerine.

"I wouldn't be so proud of your trees Nami. They seem a little sick to me," Nojiko said casually as if she were talking about the weather. She lazily waved her hand at my trees and I swear they changed from purely healthy to sick as soon as she dropped her hand. They bark looked soft and saggy, the leaves falling off the braches. The tangerines were rotten and giving off a disgusting smell.

Tears were already pricking at my eyes.

I felt crushed. Belle-meres trees were dying and I couldn't do anything about it. Nojiko didn't even care!

I knew it was ridiculous to cry over something that wasn't really happening and I knew she wasn't real and yet it still hurt. Nojiko would never do that. Genzo would never be mad at me for caring for my trees. My sister wouldn't brush off our mothers dying trees.

I felt a rage burn inside me. My emotions were getting the better of me but I didn't care.

I glared at them, furious. How dare they! Disregard something so import so carelessly! I was close to bringing my fist to their skulls when their gaze froze me in place.

Their eyes were an apathetic teal and their smiles were thin across their faces.

"Now, now Nami. You wouldn't hit your family would you?" Nojiko giggled and Genzo soon joined her.

"Wouldn't want you harming your loved ones now would you?"

"That wouldn't be good."

"Oh no, not at all!"

"Too precious," she hissed.

"How could you let them get hurt?"

"Why would you _damage_ them, Nami?"

"Sacrifice their joy for your own?"

"Are you sure that's the smart thing to do?"

"Be cautious of your actions, dear Nami, dear sister, you never know what consequences could come about." Not Nojiko moved in closer to me, taking my shoulders into her hands, her cheek resting against mine.

"Be careful of who you trust, who knows who's telling the truth. Could be us or it could be them." Genzo slithered his way behind me, mouth to my ear. His breath was chilling, causing goose bumps to run down my spine. I felt his hand grip my left wrist. My arm was cold in an instant.

"Don't trust the living." Another hiss.

"They are only mere illusions." A gentle whisper.

"Just lies." Lyrical tone.

"Believe your dreams." Kind murmur. A squeeze on my shoulder.

"They're telling you something." Foreboding warning. Tugging me closer to them.

"Trust _us_," they whispered together in my ears.

The world went black and Luffy was offering me his hand.

His eyes were blazing with shooting stars, a wide, real smile set on his face.

My shoulders sagged.

I couldn't join him that time.

* * *

My resolved dimmed away as I sat in bed, staring at the ceiling.

It was ten o'clock.

At times it would flare up and I would be ready to refuse any dream that would come my way, but then I'd remember the images in the mirror and the floating crew and it would crumble entirely.

It was Robins breathing that anchored me to reality at that moment. You could never hear anyone breathe when it was a dream, not even when it was absolutely silent.

It was how I learned to distinguish between the two. Dream vs. Reality.

It still didn't do much good though. Even if I could tell the difference, I never cared much to want to return to reality.

* * *

It's funny now that I look back on it. I hadn't notice the second needle of the log pose was broken, being too worried about everything else.

I was trying to understand what was going on without much of an effort. I was giving up without much of a fight. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

As I'm telling you this, I'm starting to realize how much of an idiot I was being, scared of everything, paranoid of anything, and not trusting in my own instincts. If only I had known what was going on…but I guess that isn't really important at the moment.

So the log pose had one working needle. That's it. Just one. The one right in the middle. Unfortunately I didn't notice. If I had, I definitely would have snapped out of it. My resolve would have been stronger than ever. I swear I _would have put up a better fight._

But, I hadn't noticed.

* * *

It was midnight.

What was I to do?

I didn't know.

I was freaking out and not giving a damn at the same time.

This is where I had previously left off. I was watching the ceiling. Looking at the patterns. Contemplating my worth and sanity.

I tried to escape the oncoming dream, my determination flaring brighter than previously, brighter than usual. But as you know already, I failed.

Who did that voice belong to? What'll happen now? Will things finally work out? Will I finally be sane again? Or will I lose it all?

Hmm. You'll just have to wait I guess.

* * *

So that's the end of all her hallucination days! Wooh. Took forever didn't it?

So now, we should be about a day or two away from FINALLY reaching the island. Freakin' jeez.

For those of you who stuck around and are still interested, thank you so much! I really hope this chapter was enjoyable enough to excuse the break.

For those of you who are new and just made it to the current chapter, I hoped you liked it! And if your just sitting here confused, don't worry. Everyone else is too. Everything will be explained and yada yada as the story progresses, so please be patient. Just sit back and relax and enjoy the show.

P.S. I kinda lost track of the days. If I remember correctly, Nami already explained two days, skipped ahead, went back to explain three more, and now we're current. Hope that's right.

Feel free to correct me on errors! : )


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Non, je ne suis pas le créateur de(du?) One Piece et je n'ai crée pas One Piece.

I have no idea if I said that right or not.

So here's the next chapter. I haven't had much time to look over it so...meh. I'm too tired. Bleh.

Out of the hallucinations, now on to the real stuff.

* * *

When I woke up, there wasn't a sudden change or Earth shattering realization or anything that really made a difference. The room was lightly lit from the sun, warm glowing parches of light on the wall beside my bed, and a glaring reflection of the sun through the mirror. Of course that sun didn't belong to this day.

The birds were chirping away merrily in the newly inhabited forest. Their songs were calming and I felt a smile tug at my lips as I looked at the ceiling. I felt great. I felt well-rested. I felt like I had actually had a good night's sleep.

I smiled wider as I sat up to stretch, arms in the air then soon behind my head, humming along with the birds melodies. I shifted the blankets off of me and went for me closet to begin a day that just felt like one of those days where everything would go your way. After making my decision on resisting the hallucinations, I felt like I could finally take back the control in my life. I could direct it where I wanted to go. In a cheesy way, I was becoming the navigator of my life again.

I threw my clothes on hastily and went straight for the mirror, ready to try and force the birds away. I looked directly in it and was shocked to see myself again. Only, it wasn't just me, there was another person there and they looked strikingly similar to Luffy. In fact, it _was _Luffy. The scar underneath his eye was all the proof I needed.

He was bouncing all over the place, laughing uncontrollably. Surprisingly, I wasn't berating him for being such a goofball for once. A shy grin was on my face and I was looking awkwardly around the forest, diverting my eyes from the loud boy in front of me. There was an uncomfortable air about me, I didn't necessarily look unhappy to be there, it just looked like I had something to say but didn't want to say it in fear of interrupting the mini celebration. I couldn't help but wonder why…?

I glared at the mirror, disappointed in myself for allowing another hallucination to draw me in, and simply turned away from it.

"It won't work anymore," I said into the air, feigning confidence as I retreated towards the door, quickly grabbing the doorknob, thrusting the door open, and escaping down the stairs to avoid the answer I knew would be coming.

Apparently it was already noon judging by the position of the sun…and that everyone else was already on the deck going about their normal pastimes. Chopper was listening intensely to another one of Usopps insane stories and Luffy was acting them out as best as he could, which meant he was completely changing the story by acting as whoever he wanted. He was imitating Sanji at the moment from what I saw. Robin was laughing quietly as she listened.

I headed for the kitchen when my stomach let out an audible growl, deciding to join them later. I gave a small wave as I walked past and they cautiously waved back. The thought that they were afraid of me lashing out at them crossed my mind and I couldn't really blame them considering I had been getting less stable.

I could feel their eyes on my back when I entered through the door. I'm not sure _who_ burned the biggest whole through me.

Sanji was furiously cleaning the dishes from breakfast and cooking lunch at the same time. I stood back to watch his hurried movements and I'll admit I was pretty impressed. Of course, I would never admit that to him.

"Sanji-kun," I interrupted quietly, not wanting to disrupt him too much. A useless gesture though because he was already gushing at me albeit a little more careful than usual.

"Nami-swan! How is my fine radiant beauty today? Well rested from your beauty sleep I hope?"

He danced around the kitchen, splashing ingredient into various pots and pans. Even distracted he never made a single mistake, his amounts precise and measured perfectly.

I stared blankly at him before shaking myself out of it. Smiling, I answered "Much better now thanks. Is it alright if I steal a quick snack?"

"Steal a snack? Now why would you need to do that? I can prepare a luxurious meal for you in no time!"

I didn't really want to bug him and I felt like it would be best if I just left him be, I mean he was already cleaning dishes _and_ cooking lunch. A lunch for the crew and our bottomless pit of a captain.

"No it's fine Sanji-kun. You're already busy as it is."

"Nonsense! I'm never too busy for you, Nami-swan!"

Shaking my head, I let out a sigh and headed for the fridge. I looked around until I saw a few tangerines. Satisfied with just one, I took it and shut the door.

Sanji was giving noisy protests, but I waved him off and thanked him for being so considerate. He melted into a puddle of goo.

I chuckled quietly to myself. Today was going to be a good day, I could feel it.

When I emerged from the door way, they were still going on about their silly antics. The story took a drastic turn judging by the tears in Choppers eyes and the wicked smile in Robins. Luffy was holding a flower in his hands over his chest as he lay on the deck. Apparently the hero died or something.

I quietly crept over to them and took a seat next to Robin. She kept her eyes on Usopp and she whispered "Nice to see you up." I felt like there was a double meaning to her words and tried to dissect exactly what it could be but was interrupted by a loud sob from Chopper. Usopp frantically changed the story's direction to cheer him up.

"So, what's happening?" I asked just to keep a conversation. I hadn't been able to keep up much of a social life with the crew since the hallucinations and I felt like it was time to get back on track. I was refusing service. Sorry we're closed, come back later. Or never.

"Usopp died a hero's death in a tragic battle for the hand of his lover. My, and he was just now revived thanks to the healing powers of true loves kiss. Who knew he was such a romantic?" She cocked an eyebrow as she turned to look at me.

I laughed.

"Oi, Nami! Be quiet! You can't laugh during the dramatic part of the story!" Usopp scolded.

"Yeah," chimed Chopper.

I couldn't rid myself of the smirk when I apologized.

When the story reached its end, Chopper began to clap with loud enthusiasm and Robin politely joined in. Feeling as if I had to, I placed the remaining slices on my lap and clapped too. Usopp and Luffy bowed proudly, Usopp thanking the audience with a smug tone while Luffy showed his appreciation by grinning like a mad man.

I couldn't help but smile too.

* * *

A warm fire sat aglow inside the fireplace, embers flickering into the air and heating the naturally cold home. Its flaming fingers reached from their confinements to brush the air and miss the tense figure sitting in the leather armchair.

Their eyes stared intensely into the fireplace, as if peering into a world beyond what was in front of them. Their hooves clutched at the arms in a focused grip. Expression strained, the figure refused to relax for a moment.

It wasn't until the finger of his cold companion tapped him on the shoulder that he sagged into the chair and released a shaky sigh. His antlers prevented him from fully slouching and he grumbled quietly as he straightened up again.

"We're close," the man stated as he took a seat beside the reindeer.

"How close?"

"She saw me."

"When?"

"In hallucinations unfortunately."

"Only hallucinations?"

"Unfortunately."

The reindeer sighed and shook his head. At this rate, the only option left was to bring the girl to them by force. If _they _kept interfering, there wasn't a chance that the girl would believe them if they tried convincing her to come. She'd assume it to be nonsense or another trick.

"We'll need you," the man interrupted the reindeer from his thoughts.

"I know."

The man was silent for a few minutes, looking as if he wanted to say something. His brows were furrowed until h nodded his head and turned back towards the reindeer.

"They've gotten worse."

The reindeer cringed. "They're resisting everything I do."

"Then she must be it."

"They've gotten stronger too."

The man froze. "How strong?"

"Enough. My regular barriers can no longer keep them out."

"Is that why she's been sleeping irregularly?"

The reindeer nodded.

"They must really want this island."

"They do."

"If we use you, will you be capable of keeping them away?"

"No," his head fell and his shoulders sagged. He shut his eyes as if preparing for a punishment he knew was coming. He deserved it anyway, being unable to hold them back.

The man held his breath, then, released it into a long sigh. To say he was frustrated was an understatement, but he didn't let it show. Even he knew their influence was weakening.

"That's fine." The reindeers head shot up. "I'll help as much as I can, but I won't be able to communicate as well with her."

"I promise I-"

"It's best you get started. I'll be back shortly," the man said as he got up and headed for the door. "Hopefully," he muttered before he shut the door with a click.

Thunder boomed over head, without warning, shaking the entirety of the house. The reindeer's eyes were focused on the ceiling, a dead stare set in place. Another boom shook the house and a crack of lightening lit the dark space. A quiet, almost sneaky hissing sound began to fill the void left between the thunder and lightning and soon the rain was pelting the world beneath it.

"I will not fail this time," were the last words uttered for hours.

* * *

I was beyond overjoyed. So far, I had avoided all the hallucinations and I was filled to the brim with excitement. Maybe I was lucky and all I had was schizophrenia instead. That could be treated right?

_Right? _

If I continued on long enough, maybe they would leave me entirely and finally allow me to be sane again. I could be back to my normal self!

I would have jumped with joy if the crew wasn't already suspicious of me.

I had been up close to four hours and not a single thing had bothered me since noon. Not even a giggle. Now that, that was an accomplishment worth celebrating over.

I was humming to myself as I walked down the hallway headed for the deck, skipping every other step. I was in a good mood and nothing, I mean nothing, was going to ruin it.

Not even my captain ramming right into me while yelling at Sanji about his need to have meat or else 'he'll die.' His entire weight was holding me between him and the cold hardwood floor and basically crushing my bones and yet I was still in a good mood.

When Luffy saw who he had trapped beneath him, he was up in an instant apologizing and avoiding Sanjis kicks while Sanji yelled at Luffy for being such a neanderthal. I simply sat up and dusted myself off. I gave them a smile and asked Sanji to help me up to which he obliged. With a small thank you, I turned my attention to my idiot captain.

"You should be more careful next time, Luffy." And I walked off undoubtedly leaving them with stupefied expressions. Their mouths were probably still on the floor when I made it onto the deck.

The thought of their stupid faces got me to smile which caught Robin's attention.

"Something happen?"

I shook my head and tried to deny anything, but the evil grin on my face just wouldn't leave. An amused spark found its way into her eyes and I was forced (politely) to tell her what happened. Even Robin managed a smirk.

We were still talking about it when I felt a sudden change in the air. The pressure had dropped dramatically and the temperature was falling into the chilling weather. Goosebumps were already racing up my arms. Of course Robin hadn't noticed yet and I wasn't going to let her unawareness keep me from saying what I did next.

I sat up, rigid. "There's a storm coming," I blurted.

She stopped whatever she was saying immediately. Though I know she didn't mean for me to see, the doubt in her eyes was impossible for me to miss. It hurt. A lot actually, but I didn't let it affect me.

"Are you sure Nami-san? You've been very tired recently and the weather looks just fine." Her face was neutral now, trying to convince me that I was just mistaken just this one time.

Her words cut me like a knife. Her excuse was good, but she should know that I can predict anything no matter what condition I was in. I mean, come one, I had predicted the Grand Line cyclone when I was sick with a fever! (Though she wasn't there to see it.)

"I am absolutely positive. Can you get the others? We need to prepare for a storm." I got up from the lounge chair and began to pace, hoping to allow the movement to calm my mind.

The doubt in her eyes was still there, but she did what I asked. The crew was out on deck in a matter of minutes, all in different states. Some were grumbling while others were looking at each other. Sanji was caught in a state between trying to believe me and fawning over my genius. Only Luffy looked as if he was ready to do what was needed.

I turned to him to speak. If he was the only one willing to trust me, then only he would have my direct orders. "A bad storm is coming. It'll arrive in less than an hour and we are too close to avoid the worst of it so it's going to be tough. I'm going to need you and the rest to man the sails."

Luffy nodded.

"How do you even know this?" An annoyed Zoro asked. The suspicion was still there and he wasn't willing to follow orders from a crewmate who he thought was suicidal. For all he knew, I could be trying to lead them into the storm. The distrust stung, I'll admit. He normally followed my orders without complaint. Had that one slip up really change his opinion of me that much?

I bit my tongue to stop myself from yelling at him. If I did, it would only make it worse. "Because I'm the navigator and I know what the hell is going on with the weather. You either listen to me or we're all going to be torn to shreds by this storm."

"I-is it that bad?" Usopp asked shakily. His face was turning pale, but he kept up a brave front.

"I don't think my bones can take it!" Brook cried.

I nodded. That was all I needed to do to win them over. Usopp, Brook, and Chopper (after seeing the other two) were with me along with Luffy. Sanji and Robin joined right after.

"Nami-sis, you sure about this?" Franky was a little skeptical. He was staring at me, waiting for something.

"Yes," I confirmed and stared back. Whatever he was looking for, he must have found it.

"Super! Let's show this storm what Sunnys made of!"

I turned to Zoro and waited for his answer as did everyone else. He watched me carefully, deciding whether or not I could be trusted. You would think after being together for so long that he would've finally developed at least a little faith in me, but our relationship had always been a little rocky. I guess my mistake really had changed his opinion. My eyes felt a little stingy, but I wasn't going to cry. He released a slow sigh, drawing it out as long as he could, and nodded his head.

I released a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. I smiled gratefully at him, but he narrowed his eyes in return and mouthed _'_later.'

I froze. Later? He wanted to discuss this?

I nodded my head in hopes that the storm would distract him long enough so that he would forget. If the storm was as bad as I thought it was going to be, he and the rest of the crew will be too tired to even think.

Turning my head up towards the sky, I saw the blue beginning to darken. The beginnings of the storm were already starting to creep into the sky. Of course, no one else had noticed yet. They were busy tying everything down in order to prevent anything falling overboard.

The temperature was gradually dropping to an uncomfortable degree. I rubbed my arms in order to rid them of the goose bumps, however to no avail. Already the earlier ninety-five degrees had dropped by almost ten degrees. How the others hadn't even noticed, I'd never know.

I kept my attention towards the sky, waiting for any sudden change. Other than the temperature, nothing too bad was happening yet. We still had another twenty or so minutes to avoid getting hit with the worst for too long, but it was just barely enough.

I quickly began barking orders at the others, Robin to hold down whatever hadn't been finished or brining anything inside, and the guys to take positrons at the sails. The storm was coming in, slowly but surely, and we needed to start moving away from it.

I checked the log pose to decide which way to go. With only two needles working, our course of action could be costly. We could follow the one that was moving less, or the one that was moving more. However, the safest island was closer to the storm than the other.

Escape a terrible storm for a terrible island, or make it through the storm in hopes of finding a peaceful island? Judging by the weather, the storm would be near impossible to escape without severely damaging the sunny or having someone fall overboard. That someone most likely being me as I had to make sure everything was being done and having nothing to hold onto.

Just this one time, I would go with Luffys deranged way of thinking and head for the scarier island. Just this one time, I was willing to go as long as we made it out of the storm.

So, I shouted orders, nonstop strain on my vocal chords and throat, and we were making progress through the storm, going as quickly as the wind would allow us. The wind was strong at times, too strong, and at others, too weak. I asked Franky if he would use a coup de burst, but he said we had been low on cola since we left the last island. And so, we had to get by the old fashion way.

Only thirty minutes had passed, but already I could feel my voice growing scratchy. By the next thirty, I had no doubt that I would be hurting, but I didn't let that stop me.

At times, the lightening would get dangerously close to the water and I could feel the hairs on my arms rise. It was too dangerous a time to be blacking out, but somehow, my stupid brain just didn't seem to care.

The world around me was suddenly going blurry and the others were just smudges of color above me. The roaring sound of the thunder faded to a quiet rumble and the lighting was like dull streaks of light. In front of me, a man was standing dry. He was the only clear thing I could see and when he lifted his head, I shrieked. It sounded muffled even in my ears.

Somehow, another Luffy was staring at me, only, it wasn't Luffy. He wore the straw hat, he had the red cardigan and even the pants, but his face was different, more serious and his eyes had a perceptive glint to them. His eyes were also an electric blue.

I took a step back, legs shaky, and nearly fell. I recovered quickly though and could only watch as the fake Luffy walked toward me. With each step forward, I took a step back, that is, until my back hit the wall and I was suddenly aware of the icy temperature. I cursed silently for letting myself be cornered.

He stopped a few feet in front of me, eyes piercing and searching. The scar under his eye was enhanced for a moment by a sudden flash of lightening.

"Nami," he said in a familiar voice. It was low and deep and I swear I had heard it before. I could only watch the puff of breath travel upward as I tried to figure out where.

He waited for me to reply, to say anything, but when he realized that I wasn't going to, he tried again. "Nami," he repeated. "Can you finally see me?"

My eyebrows creased into a puzzled expression. What did he mean 'could I finally see him?'

"The storm has managed to keep them away for the time being," he added a moment later. "This isn't a dream like you're thinking."

My breath hitched in my throat. How could he know that?

"Nor a hallucination."

I felt my knees buckle, from fear or the cold I wasn't quite sure. Goose bumps were running all over me, from my arms to my neck and to my toes. I couldn't handle this. Not now. I had managed almost the entire day without something happening! Why was it suddenly starting now?

I felt that crushing depression fall over me again, that since of uselessness, the lost feeling, everything. My back began sliding down the wall and I was soon on the ground, legs to my chest. I couldn't handle it, not after gaining that false hope. It had felt too good. I knew it was too good. I couldn't handle this.

"Nami, stand up. Everything's fine," the fake Luffy tried consoling me as he crouched down. He reached his hand to me but quickly took it back.

I could only shake my head, eyes squeezed shut, hopping that the whole thing would end soon so I could go back to shouting orders. Three minute had already passed, from what I could judge, and I knew the crew was getting anxious.

I don't care what the imposter had said; this was too bizarre to be real. I knew it was. No sane person could be seeing this. I was either hallucinating again, or I had died during the storm and this was Hell.

"Calm down!" He snapped at me. I curled tighter into myself, scared. "I need you to listen to me," he tried saying gentler, correcting himself. "Whether you respond or not is not important, but I just need you to _focus on what I am saying._ The island you are pursuing is dangerous, obviously, but it is important you go there. You are needed. You are important."

I looked up hesitantly at his words. I was needed? For what?

He saw the question in my eyes. "I cannot say why. It is too dangerous here. They may be at bay for the moment, but they are still around. They know, but they don't know everything," he whispered furiously at me. His image was beginning to blur with the rest of the world. I blinked, thinking it was my eyes.

He looked at himself and cursed. "Not much time," he muttered. He looked back at me. "Come to the island and look for a house. It may appear abandoned and may seem cold, but it is the safest place on the island, I can assure you. If they ask you where you're going, do _not _reply. They may seem friendly and innocent, but they are not. They want to _destroy you."_

His image was becoming harder to distinguish. I couldn't understand what he was saying. Who did he mean by 'they?' Did he mean the crew or…?

"Follow your log pose. It is the only thing that can lead you. Even if it appears broken, shattered, unusable, it is still your guide and you must trust in it and yourself. You are the one who must lead the way."

With that, his images faded away completely, his eyes being the last thing of him. The rise in temperature was almost immediate and I could hear the storm and the crew's shouts again. I blinked and the world was clear.

I was back at my original spot, standing and looking up towards the sky, my limbs were still and I was as warm as I could be in my rain soaked clothes. Judging by everyone's reactions, not even a single minute had passed. They looked calm (as calm as one can look during a storm) and ready to take my orders. They were in the exact positions as I had seen them last.

A sigh of relief escaped my lips. The hallucination was over and better yet, it hadn't affected anything. I had to admit, that was probably the most intense one I had had yet, but I wasn't going to take it to heart, I mean, I couldn't, not if I wanted to let everything go back to normal.

And yet, I couldn't get the voice out of my head. It was familiar, but it wasn't Luffys. I had heard it before, I knew that. It was from another hallucination. I knew that. But which one did the voice belong to?

I had had so many more hallucinations than I had told you. So many more that I had quickly forgotten. I only told you what I could remember or the ones that stood out as more important. But, I still couldn't place the voice at the moment because they were still so fresh in my mind and some were blending into each other.

Was it from the onetime at night when I hadn't seen Luffy? The time I was in the desert of Alabasta? Or was it possibly from the time I was exploring Upper Yard in Skypiea?

The loud crash of thunder broke me out of my thoughts and I was focused again on the storm. Shaking my head to rid myself of my musings, I waited a moment to let myself adjust to the weather and I was back to ordering the crew.

An hour passed by and we were still struggling with the storm. It was probably the longest storm we ever had to face and probably the roughest, so it was a test of endurance. Almost everyone was at their wits end, growing tired and wary and grumpy. I tried to be a little gentler with my commands, but that hadn't really done much, so I went back to shouting.

I was exhausted. My legs were wobbly from trying to stay upright for so long and my hands were ice cold and numb. If we kept going for a little longer, we would be out of the storm soon and I could take a quick shower. Or a really long soak in the tub.

With that thought, I felt a little boost of motivation and turned to the log pose to make sure we were following course.

I froze.

On my wrist, the log pose, the second needle frozen and still as a stone. The booming thunder and tired shouts were lost on me as I was zoned into a world of muffled silence with only the feeling of rain to anchor me to reality. The sound of my calm heartbeat was all I could hear as I watched the last working needle shaking so frenziedly it looked as if it would snap off.

_Thump…thump…thump. _

'_What should I do?'_

My thoughts went back to the hallucination from earlier. He had said to follow the log pose even if it appeared broken. I wasn't sure if I could, looking down at it.

I felt sweat trickle down my forehead. And my hands were shaking again and it wasn't from the cold.

'_What should I do?!'_

Luffys voice was what broke me out of my silent despair; a hint of fear rising in his ever impenetrable happy attitude rid me of the illusion and I was shouting orders again.

A huge wave had rocked the Sunny, causing me to stumble. We weren't quite out of the storm yet and we had only one reliable source to get us out of it. My fear evaporated instantly, determined to save the crew.

So we had one needle to follow?

Fine. Bring it on.

* * *

How much of an idiot can I be? I had the log pose working all wrong for like 10 chapters and I didn't even realize! Jeez. I need to pay better attention. So for these chapters, let's just pretend what I wrote made sense and I'll change the log pose next chapter. Pretend that the broken needles are completely dead, as in they just kinda spin in lazy circles when she moves her hand. Yeah, that should do.

Hoped you enjoyed the chapter and feel free to correct me. : )


	11. Chapter 10 and a half

Disclaimer: I'm done with this.

So, because the next chapter is taking _a lot_ longer than I thought it would, here's a chapter from Luffys P.O.V!

* * *

I didn't know what was going on, but I knew something was wrong.

She was acting all weird. Her eyes would get all blurry like she was thinking of something. I dunno what that something was, but she was thinking. Or at least I thought so.

Sometimes, she stood in one place for hours. Hours! She'd just stare off and I swear she didn't blink. Even when Sanji would go all mushy over her, she wouldn't even look at him. She kinda just mumbled something and he would look sad all of a sudden and walk away.

She even ignored the food! Now I know girls don't like to eat much, but even Nami eats a little! But all she did was stare or sleep or panic and run around like she was crazy or something.

And the times she'd snap out of it, she'd get this sad look on her face. She'd look around the deck, confused for a second, and then she'd frown and move away from where she had been standing for who knows how long and then she'd yell at me or Usopp or Chopper and hit us or she'd sit with Robin and talk with her, only when she did, she kinda looked scared sometimes.

She was normal when we had the awesome food fight though! She was laughing and scowling and yelling just like the old Nami. The real Nami! She'd get hit in the face or the arm or the stomach and she'd laugh it off and aim for somebody. Though, when she aimed for me, I'll admit I got nervous, she was some sort of devil women as Zoro likes to call her. I'd never say that to her face though. Nu-uh. If I did, she'd get angry with me and start yelling again and I would just end up with another bruise on my head that I hafta wonder how she evens manage to land on me. Sometimes I think she has Haki that she's just tryin' to hide from everybody.

That's just how she is though. She's strong and smart. But when she was in her mystery stares, she wasn't very smart at all. She was kinda stupid actually. Don't tell her I ever said that though! She'd kill me and throw me into the ocean. I dunno if you know this, but I can't swim so I'd really like it if you kept your mouth shut because I don't wanna drown. I mean, I'm gonna be the pirate king someday! I can't die because of that!

What was I saying?

Pirate…kings…water…drowning…

Oh right! Nami!

So she was acting all weird and stuff. I wanted to say something to her, shake her out of it, but every time I'd try, Robin would interfere and shake her head. She'd say somethin' like 'Miss Nami is thinking about important things at the moment. Things that you'll only understand later on.' I wasn't sure what she meant, but she was creeping me out a bit. Her eyes changed sometimes. Did I tell you that?

Well, sometimes, her eyes would get all darker and hard. She looked older, like she was one of Usopp's heroes who had seen hundreds of years of war. Does that make sense? At first, I thought it was just her being mad at me and then I just called it mystery eyes because she did the same thing to the others and then I just thought something was up because she wasn't acting like Robin. So I concluded that all girls were crazy as we sailed to the next island.

We were sailing for a long time. I think it was a week or something, I wasn't really keeping track. That was Nami's job. But she was actin' all weird so Franky kept track because Robin was actin' weird too.

I'm tellin' ya, things were getting weird on the Sunny and I didn't really like it much. And towards the end, two days before we got to the island or something, Chopper yelled at Nami during lunch. It was really surprising honestly. Chopper never yells. Well, only after when he's been complimented but that doesn't count because he's just being Chopper.

Apparently Nami was taking sleeping pills and they weren't helping but she didn't say anything so Chopper got angry at _Nami_ and yelled at _her_ which is weird because it's usually the other way around. She acted normal though when she apologized, so everyone just brushed it off, but I didn't.

I knew there was something wrong.

Zoro figured something out too because he kept a close eye (ha! Do you get it?) on her and sometimes glared. When he was sleeping, it always seemed like he was awake because he opened his eye anytime someone walked by. And he left his normal sleeping place and moved closer to the middle. Guess he just wanted something new.

When we were playing cards something was definitely up. We all knew it too. But it was especially me and Zoro because he kept looking at her when she twitched and I was sitting next to her, so I heard her mumbling sometimes. It was really creepy, like she was talking to someone who wasn't there.

How'd the others know? Well that's obvious! She wasn't winning! She wasn't losing either, but when Nami isn't winning, something isn't right. Sometimes it'd go back and forth between her and Robin, but usually she pulled some magic trick and found the card that was just right for winning and got all the Beli. She really was a witch!

When she yelled, it made everyone freeze. Kinda like the time I was frozen! That was so cool! I couldn't move or anything and I had a funny face too! I should imitate that again sometime. I'm sure it'll leave Usopp and Chopper laughing for hours.

What? Yelling? What're you talking about?

Oh right. Woops.

So everyone was all silent and then Sanji asked her if she was okay and she replied that she was just tired and everyone went back to the game. They looked shaky though, a little careful whenever it was Nami's turn. I don't know why they were so scared of her. She wasn't yelling but then again, she wasn't yelling so maybe that's why they were scared. Maybe she'd suddenly burst and everyone would get lumps on their heads.

But I knew she wasn't really tired. Well she was. It was obvious with the big bags under eyes. She looked like a zombie and I know what zombies look like so it's not a good thing.

It had something to do about her mystery stares and I knew that Robin knew and that Nami didn't. Whenever she snapped outta them and looked at me, the first thing she did was wrinkle her eyebrows and looked all confused. She'd stare at my feet and it made me think that I had stepped on one of her tangerines and that she would start yelling at me but when I looked down, there wasn't anything under my feet other than the grass and my sandals. When I looked back at her face, she'd look straight into my eyes and I swear it looked like something broke inside her when our eyes connected. It made me feel bad, like I had caused the pain. I wanted to make it better, but I didn't know how and when I tried to give her my meat at the table, she'd just wrinkle her nose and say 'no thank you, Luffy' in a distant kind of way.

I didn't know what to do and it hurt. I don't know why it did, but my chest felt bad and I really wanted to help her, but I didn't know how and I felt useless all over again. I felt like I was gonna lose another person. Another friend. Another nakama.

But on the last day, something happened. I don't know what it was, but she was real Nami again. She was smiling again and she was laughing and joking.

And when I ran into in the hallway (I was really hungry but Sanji wouldn't let me eat) and ran straight into Nami, she didn't even yell! I swear, all she did was say a few things that I didn't really even hear and she just left. She just left! Like that. Not a single hit or yell or scolding.

My mouth fell straight to the floor. Nami was acting all weird. But this time, in a different way!

She seemed more aware though and she was looking at the log pose and she was looking at the sky and she was smiling and just doing the normal Nami things that Nami does. I felt the bad feeling in me go away and I smiled really wide when she looked at me and the hurt in her eyes were gone.

When she was happy, I was happy. Just like with any other nakama of mine. If someone was sad, I was too and I didn't like it. That's why I'm always smiling, to protect them and make sure that they always smile too.

And when she called us on deck, I knew what was gonna happen. She looked straight at me and I wondered why for a moment but the thought dropped when she started explaining things.

Everyone was doubting her and I was shocked. Nami knew what she was doing. Nami knows what Nami knows and no one else could predict the weather like her. I trusted her but everyone else didn't seem to at the moment.

Zoro was the worst though. He had gotten really hard on her after the one day and he was being really serious. I know that Zoro has good instincts and I know he is smart (even when he gets lost) but when he was confronting Nami, I couldn't help but feel a little angry. I trust Zoro, fully and completely, but he was trying to argue with her at the worst time! A storm was coming and Nami was nervous. I could tell.

But she finally convinced him and we were all preparing for the storm. We didn't even finish though because the storm came onto us so quickly. Let me tell you plain and simple right here, that storm was Hell. It lasted for hours and was wearing everyone down.

No one else noticed, but Nami was still for a few moments. Her eyes were wide open and she was doing that staring thing again, only this time she looked more afraid than blurry. It made me nervous. I shouted her name and it seemed to snap her out of it. When I looked up, I noticed Chopper looking at me. I don't know what came over me, but I felt my face grow serious and the world blurred a bit around the edges and Chopper just nodded at me, the same serious expression on his face. I felt myself nod back and then just like that, it was done.

Have I told you yet?

Sometimes when Nami was being weird, I would get weird too. Sometimes I'd black out and find myself some place new. Other times, I saw what was going on, but I didn't have control of myself.

I would say words, things that I didn't understand. And sometimes, Chopper would be there, saying something back to me. I would look in his eyes and they were always weird. They were a really blue color and they looked old too. Though, not as old as Robin's.

When I asked Chopper about it, he said he felt the same thing too and that my eyes looked just how I had described them.

I wasn't really that concerned about it though because Nami was acting scarier.

I didn't mention it earlier, but Zoro said something to me. He said to watch out for Nami. He told me to keep her away from the railing. I didn't know what he meant by it, but I made sure that I ran past her whenever she looked like she was heading for the side of the ship. It worked, thankfully, because I didn't have another idea to make her avoid it without getting myself knocked on the head.

After the storm, I had another black out again and I don't know for how long, but it had to have been a long time because when I opened my eyes, I wasn't on the sunny anymore. I was on an island. It was big and had a lot of trees which I headed straight for until I wondered where my nakama were.

Everyone was gone, so the first thing I did was head straight into the forest because, obviously, that's where most of the fun would be.

So, I started looking for them.

* * *

So there you have it. The first ten chapters from Luffys perspective. I hope he was in character, but if he wasn't, can you make a suggestion on what to fix?

I wrote this chapter up really quick so it might be a little choppy and rougher than the others, but I kind of picture Luffys thoughts to be a little scattered and unfocused when he isn't fighting. I hope he doesn't seem too kid-ish though.

The next chapter is going to take more time to write. Sorry! Hopefully, thanks to winter break, I can finish it in a few days (or a week). : )


	12. Chapter 11

Hey ya guys! Here's the next chapter. Sorry it took so long, but I'm tired of looking at it, so here it is!

Thanks for all the reviews you've been leaving! I really appreciate them! ^^

* * *

When I opened my eyes, all I could see was a stretch of sand almost as white as snow. I say almost because it had a pinkish tint to it.

My cheek was pressed deeply into the sand. When I breathed, it would tickle my nose. It smelled faintly like iron and salt.

My head was pounding and the sunlight reflecting off of the sand was making it worse. It was too bright, so I shut my eyes.

When I opened them again, the sand looked darker, now a deep sort of salmon. Light wasn't reflecting off the different particles and I could see without being blinded. I turned my head to see the sky and noticed that it was a violent shade of red. The sun was setting and my first thought was to go back to sleep. My second was maybe what I was seeing was another hallucination (but that couldn't be right. I had been avoiding them only a few hours ago).

My third thought was to finally sit up and see where I was, and so I did. I curled up, stomach lifting off the ground, knees to my chest and elbows holding me up. It hurt to move and I finally noticed why after a moment of confusion. I few scrapes were scattered across my arms, some leaving small trails of blood while others were already scabbing over. From my forehead, a heavy wetness dripped silently onto the sand. It stained it and ugly red.

I released a shaky breath as I tried to sit up straight. My back was sore and my knees were bruised. My teeth clenched without me knowing and I had to force myself to unclench them when I was finally up.

What I saw made me forget my pain temporarily.

In front of me was the ocean, mirroring the colors of the sunset. Reds and pinks and golden shades of orange. I couldn't tell where the end was for either the sky or sea. It was breathtaking and left me speechless.

That is, until the blood on my forehead dripped into my eye. I quickly tried to wipe it away, only causing my body to protest against the movement. It was the sorest I had been in a long time.

When I was done, I looked around my surroundings again, not yet connecting the fact that I wasn't on the Sunny. My mind was running slow. It was as if it was wrapped up in a blanket, not yet ready to comprehend the sunlight shining in its eyes and telling it to wake up.

Behind me was a forest. Or maybe a jungle? It looked like it was breathing, the way the wind swayed the branches and rustled the leaves. It was the greenest thing I had ever seen. And the flowers that blossomed looked so foreign yet familiar it made me want to see them up close. If Robin were here, she would have loved them.

Robin.

Robin!

It was the thought of the crew that finally shook the drowsing feeling away. I was instantly aware of the state of my body, the pain suddenly increasing. I could feel all the blood I was losing dripping down me and I needed to do something quick about it.

I looked to see if I had anything to bandage my wound with. My jacket was gone and all I had left was my shirt and shorts. There was nothing I could really use, unless I used my shirt, but even doing that wouldn't be able to bandage my head completely. If I wanted to stop the bleeding, I would need to go into the forest and find something there, or I would have to find my jacket.

I took a quick look around the beach in hopes of spotting it, but it was gone. No sign of it anywhere. No sign of Luffy or the others either. The sudden realization of their absence made me stop.

Where were they?

Where was I?

What happened?

This wasn't good. Not one bit.

I shot straight up, back stiff as a board. It wasn't a good idea. My head was pounding in protest and black dots spotted my vision for a moment, making me stumble around. My shoes were gone. My shoes were missing.

I was walking around on hot sand, barefoot. I looked down in disbelief. They were covered in the pink sand, but in the lighting they looked red. I tried to shake it off, but the sand clung to my feet for dear life, refusing to let go.

Huffing, I headed for the forest, ignoring the itchy feeling on my ankles. I could deal with it later, my head was first priority. If there were leaves large enough in the forest, I could probably use them for my head or something. Anything that could stay would do. I just needed the temporary treatment until I found Chopper.

After a few minutes of looking around, all I could find were some long vines and tiny leaves. At this rate, there'd be nothing left for me to do but bleed to death and wonder where the hell I was. And the rest of the crew. I sank down next to a tree, my legs were a little wobbly, and let my head rest against the bark. My head wasn't bleeding too much I was pretty sure, but it wasn't going to heal anytime soon. I let it roll forward to my chest and looked down at my shirt. It looked like I would have to use it after all. It was thick enough to work as a bandage and I could use the vines to tie it in place.

I pondered this idea for about thirty seconds before I just think 'screw it.' I took it off carefully then paused. '_I should probably clean the wound first'_… but there wasn't really any clean water anywhere. I hesitated before sighing and getting up again. Better clean it as best as I could. I had no idea when I'd see Chopper or anyone else again.

It's funny how loud person's footsteps sound when they're walking by themselves in the dark, their feet managing to find every twig and branch and dried crunchy leaf. It's also funny how a person never realizes how quiet a forest is until _they_ actually try to be quiet. And instead of doing that, they only sound louder.

It was terrible. The forest was so quiet, except for the whispery sound of the leaves. But that only happened in short, spread out intervals. I couldn't hear a single living creature, not a cry from a bird or the scitting of a squirrel. It was actually freaking me out a bit until I heard the sound of running water. It was faint at first, but then the trickling noises got louder. I found it eventually after shuffling through bushes and flowers, but I made it. It was a small river, lazily pushing the water towards who knows where. It was rather calm.

The wind was suddenly strong, pushing my hair out across my face and temporarily blinding me. I used my hands to hold it back, annoyed at the inconvenience. The force of it pushed me forward to the river and I had to dig my heels in to keep it from dragging me. It wasn't until it stopped that the forest was still again.

Trying to distract myself from the eerie silence, I headed straight for the river and dipped my hands in immediately, splashing the water onto my face. It felt nice and relaxing. I looked towards the water in hopes of seeing my reflection, stupid considering I had disrupted the water, but what I saw was shocking. The water was actually still and it showed me the wound on my head. It went from my eyebrow all the way across my forehead. Luckily, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The cut didn't look too deep, in fact, it seemed pretty shallow.

I splashed some more water onto the cut, rinsing it out as best as I could, my arms screaming in protest all the while. I should probably clean the scrapes on my arms and legs, rinse them in the water and clean them off. In fact, I should probably just take a bath. I looked around to make sure I was alone. Silly really, no one else had shown up since I entered the forest.

That should have been my first concern, being alone in a dark forest at night, but I was too worried about the cuts getting infected to think too much about the suspiciousness.

The water was cold and it took a few moments to adjust, but when I was all settled in, it was the nicest feeling in the world. My cuts and scrapes and bruises felt as if they were healing themselves, the pain was subsiding that quickly. A sigh of contentment escaped my lips.

_Hahaha!_

My head jerked up. I looked around the forest but saw nothing. Hoping it was my imagination, I closed my eyes and sank back into the water.

_Ahahaha!_

My eyes snapped open. Cautiously, I kept my head hidden behind some of the bushes by the river, and looked to see if someone was coming. I didn't have my Clima Tact with me. My hand reached for anything it could find and luckily it found a decent sized rock. I could throw it and make a break for it. Sure I was naked, but I could worry about that later.

_Haha!_

The voice was getting closer. If it was one of the ghost kids, there wasn't much I could do. I clenched the rock in my fist nervously.

I could do this.

The bushes began to rustle, the laugh was louder, and the loud stomping feet were crushing twigs everywhere. I felt my heart rate increase. I raised my arm, ready to throw.

3…

2…

1…

A dark figure dressed in shadows came bursting out of the bushes laughing and running wildly. My instincts kicked in immediately. I thrust the rock out at the figure as hard as I could and began to make my way across the river.

However, it was what the voice of the figure that stopped me.

"Ouch! Who threw that?!"

I could almost laugh, the relief felt so good. "Luffy?" I asked, slowly peeking my head out from the bushes.

"Eh? Nami?"

He was sprawled out on the ground, legs tangled and arms spread over his head. He got up onto his elbows and tried to see me in the dark.

"Over here." I splashed the water to guide him.

His grin grew as he made his way over.

"Watcha doin' in the water?" He asked when he sat down in front of me.

"Taking a bath."

He shoved a finger up his nose. "Why're you doin' that?"

I scowled. Did he really need to do that? Eugh. "I have to clean the scrapes," I answered. He stopped and stared at me, a serious expression replacing the bored one.

"You're hurt?"

I shook my head, which he probably didn't see very well. "Not really. I think the water's making it better."

I lifted my arm to show him and gasped at the sight. There was nothing on them. They were completely healed, including the scars from previous battles.

"What's the matter?" He brought his face close to see my arm. He just stared at it confused. "Looks fine to me." His eyes looked at me now, stopping at my forehead. They narrowed. "What happened to your head?"

I reached a hand to feel the cut. It should have healed too right? Blood covered my fingers when I brought them back. I blinked. Why hadn't that healed?

I looked up at him. "I don't know. I just woke up like this."

"It's bleeding a little bit," captain obvious pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. I'm just washing it out so I can bandage it."

"What're you gonna use?"

"My shirt. I don't have anything else."

"Oh."

He stayed silent for a little bit, so I dunked my head underwater to rinse the cut. I came back up and touched it again. It was still bleeding unfortunately. I sighed then headed for my clothes a few feet away. "Don't look," I shouted as I got out of the water.

"Can't see you anyways," he called back.

"_Luffy_."

He turned his back towards me, muttering something as he did so.

As there wasn't any real way to dry off quickly, I just shoved my clothes right on after a few minutes of air drying. When that was done I lifted my shirt back to my head and attempted to wrap it around. Unfortunately, it didn't work. So, I tried it again, folding the shirt long ways, trying it like that instead. It would stay. If I used the vines.

A few curses and groans later, I found a few lying around. Luffy was noisily asking me what was taking me so long. I ignored him and secured my shirt.

I started towards him but stepped on something hard.

"Shit," I hissed. I look down at my foot. It was fine, thankfully, but it was what was around my ankles that got my attention. A bit of sand was still sticking around them. Even after being in the water. Weird.

"Where's the rest of the crew?" I asked as I walked over to him.

"Dunno. I think I saw Zoro somewhere, but that could've just been a bush." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Do you know what happened?"

"Nope."

Well, he was no help. "We should probably start looking for them then."

"Alright! An adventure!"

"Hold it. Not now! In the morning!"

We settled near the river, laying on the ground (after I cleared the messy leaves and branches away) and trying to sleep. There was a bit of an awkward silence, but then again, with Luffy around, it could never really be awkward or silent. He'd shift every now and then, as if he had sand in his pants, which he probably did, and he complained and moaned about not being tired. Funny how right after he said that, he released a loud snore.

It was probably around midnight. The forest was silent. No wind, no birds, no animals or anything. I had secretly been hoping that someone would find us. Maybe Zoro would by being lost, or Usopp and Chopper being chased by something, or Robin coincidentally finding us while she explored?

I sighed and rolled on my back, facing the stars. They were incredible. So many in the sky at one time, I sometimes forget just how many there are. Life was busy. Is busy. I only sometimes got to see them in small moments of calm or when that last bit of storm cloud blue away and an entire day has passed.

They were prettiest after a storm. They seemed brighter then, after all the hard work. They were like a small reward, smiling down at our efforts and staying there to tell us we had done a good job, that all our aches and pains were worth it to see another night so pretty as that. Sometimes, I wished I had enough time to see them every night.

Luffys snore broke the temporary silence, tearing me from my thoughts. I rolled on my side to look at him, asleep and without a care in the world. How did he do it? So relaxed and calm on an island that appeared dead. I bet he had more time to see the stars than I did, though he probably never savored them like me.

His hair was falling over his eyes, brushing his forehead and his cheeks. He wrinkled his nose as if it was tickling him, so I gently pushed it away, a small smile on my face. I wished I could be as carefree as him.

His eyes opened the second I pulled my hand back.

I nearly screamed.

Shooting stars whizzed across his eyes, galaxies twinkled, and the moon stared straight at me. He watched me for several seconds, eyes never blinking, and the blankest expression I had ever seen on him was plastered onto his face, never faltering.

He opened his mouth to say something, but no words could be heard. I didn't know what to do, but I didn't feel nervous, not really. I had seen those eyes before. Hell, I knew who they belonged to.

He looked like he wanted to tell me something important, but he couldn't get anything out. It was another hallucination, I knew this, so I didn't let it control me, let it get me interested. I simply shook my head and whispered "Go to sleep Luffy."

And he closed his eyes and released another snore.

* * *

He was older, but only by a few years. His hair was as black as midnight and he had a wiry build, but it was obvious he was stronger and that he had seen many adventures and faced many dangers since I had last seen him. Judging by the healing scar running across his shoulder blade, he had faced some recently.

It had been a long time since I last saw him. Ten years to be precise. And I still recognized every inch of him. His very presence proved the lies and rumors (that had died off years ago, along with idea of my beloved's life) wrong. He was alive and he was healthy and he was strong. He hadn't left who he loved behind, he hadn't run off with his best friend, he hadn't abandoned the people of his village. He hadn't abandoned me. He hadn't. And yet…he had in a way.

He locked the door behind his back as he faced me, his eyes more serious than I had ever seen them, the candle light only accentuating the intensity of them. They looked older and wiser and seemed as if they were hiding years of hardship and hatred.

He had lost the innocence and naiveté while on his last voyage and it made the part of my heart willing to forgive him ache. Something told me he wasn't going to be quite the same man I had fallen in love with. Years had passed and I should have expected this, but my childish way of hoping had prevented the truth from invading me dreams. He was a different man and yet the same. I still wasn't quite sure whether to be angry with him or hug him and kiss him before he suddenly went away again.

"Sorry for showing unannounced," he apologized quietly with a small smile on his face as he sat next to me, the bed tilting slightly at the weight of him, "But this is urgent."

"What is it?" I asked, having my full attention. Urgent he said? Urgent enough for him to take _years_ to come and tell me?

I wanted to ask more, where he had been, what had he done, and if he still loved me. I wanted to tell him what I had been through, what I experienced. I wanted to tell him about the pain he had inflicted on me, how much he had crushed my heart when he left after promising he would return to me soon, how much sorrow his promised had caused me as I waited. But I held it all back because I knew him, whether it was the old him or new him, and I knew that he would explain it to me. Eventually.

"Laurely," he started. He looked uneasily at the floor than back at me, hand brushing his hair back awkwardly. "I found something. Something truly amazing." The smile I was familiar with was beginning to peak its way through as he described to me this beautiful island he had discovered only but a year ago. He told me of its magic and wonders and it being the closest thing to paradise he had ever seen.

With each word, each description, the pain and rage grew inside me, threatening to pour out at any moment and I never wanted more than anything to stop the words tumbling from his mouth because while he had been in his paradise, I had spent my time in Hell.

"And the water -"

"Norri." I cringed internally for using his nickname.

He stopped and looked me straight in the eyes. The familiar light in his eyes were back to the foreign dimness and I felt a pang of regret for causing it, but he deserved to hear what I needed to say.

"It's been ten years."

His eyes widened in disbelief. "Ten?"

"People have been saying you've been dead for years."

"Dead?" he mimed.

"That or that you ran off with Greffer to elope."

He stayed silent at that, a mix between confusion and disgust crossing his face.

"You told me you'd come back soon. Six months. You promised to come back in six months and I waited for you, patiently and foolishly! I looked like a fool for believing you, for waiting for you without a doubt in my mind that you would come back. I waited and waited and I waited in pain! For such a long time and it has hurt me! And here you are, ten years later, as if nothing has happened. As if no time has passed at all!" I felt the hot trails of my tears as they fell down my face.

He looked shattered. He looked shocked. He looked surprised, as if the world had just been pulled from under his feet. His hands clutched at his head as he hunched over, rocking himself.

"No, no, no…" he muttered under his breath. He looked up at me. "I've only been gone a year at the most. I swear!"

I shook my head. "How old do I look?" At this question, I realized he didn't look nearly as old as he should.

He observed me for a few moments, the foreign seriousness back in his eyes before saying, "mid-twenties."

"I'm twenty eight." He looked only twenty. Twenty three at the most.

"But…but I left the docks only a year ago! I remember. You asked me to take you on our next trip. You wanted to come with us so you wouldn't feel left behind and I said you could come with us then but you said that we were already prepared and there wasn't enough food and…" Desperation for me to remember was evident in his eyes. Of course I remembered though, and I felt my cheeks grow warm for having denying going with him that day.

"I should have gone with you."

* * *

I woke up with a start. Sweat was trailing down my face and I was gasping for breath. Those people in my dream, they looked…they looked a lot like-

"Hey! That's my food!" Luffy shouted in his sleep. I turned quickly to look at him just at the right time for my nose to become acquainted with his fist.

It hurt. A lot.

"OW! LUFFY!" I punched him over the head. Twice for good measure.

He woke up instantly. "Ow! What wazzat for!" He jumped up with amazing speed and glared down at me.

"You hit me you moron!" My voice sounded nasally from my hand covering my nose.

I held it tightly, trying to sooth the aching pain. It was throbbing and I could already feel it puffing up a bit. I brought me hand down to check for blood and sure enough, it was bleeding. "Seriously?" I muttered.

"Ah." Was the only comment he really had.

I rolled my eyes, agitated, and headed for the river. Maybe its magic water could heal me again. I brought the water to my nose and splashed it. I repeated the process until I felt the pain slowly subside.

It gave me the idea to do the same with my cut, so I unknotted the vines and unfolded the shirt and looked at my reflection in the river. It was a tad blurry from the running water, so I didn't have a clear view like last time. I turned to Luffy and asked him about it. He said it looked better than before.

I scrunched my face up in thought. I could use the water anyway and just let it heal quickly. I would have a shirt and a scarless forehead if I did so it would be a win for me if I did. I shrugged and splashed some water on to my forehead.

I hadn't heard Luffy walk up to me, so when I saw the blur of colors representing his reflection, I jumped and landed on my butt with a noisy thud.

He laughed at me before he squatted next to me. I turned to glare at him, but he wasn't really focused on my expression. Instead, he was focusing on my nose. I wondered if it was still puffy until he spoke.

"Sorry," he said. "About your nose." He nodded his head at it.

I sighed. The pain was gone and the bleeding had stopped, thanks to the river, so I shrugged and said I forgave him. He smiled at that.

It was fairly dark out still, only a small strip of color was on the horizon meaning the sun was just starting to rise. There was no point in going back to sleep, so I stood up, put my shirt back on, and stretched a bit. My arms and legs were still a bit sore, but only a little. The water had really helped me out.

I turned to ask Luffy what we should do for breakfast, but he had beaten me to it. The water was up to his knees as he tried fishing with his hands. He was looking all around him, but he couldn't seem to find anything.

"Hey! Where're all the fish?" He looked at me as if I knew the answer.

"I don't know. Don't ask me."

"What're we supposed to do for food then?!" Judging by the growls emitting from his stomach, he wouldn't last long without a meal.

I shrugged. "We could probably look for something in the forest."

"There's nothing there."

"What do you mean?"

"I already checked. I didn't see anything."

Ugh. So we'd have to find fruit to eat which wouldn't even hold Luffy down for a minute. "Let's look for some fruit or something then." Already I was regretting suggesting it.

He whined and moaned as he waded out of the river. "But that isn't food."

I sighed. "Yes it is. Come on."

I took a path that would keep us close to the river. Usually when there's a river, a town is close by, so maybe we'd end up finding one and we could get some food and ask about the others. "Do you think this island is inhabited?" I called to Luffy, who was lagging behind. He dragged his feet while he complained about being hungry. It's not like I wasn't or anything.

"What?"

"Do you think people live on this island?"

"I dunno. Maybe?"

I sighed. This was going to be a long day.

We spent hours wondering around the forest. We couldn't find anyone at all. Usually we found each other within a few minutes, but it seemed it would take longer for this time, a lot longer.

We found a little bit of food, well I did, and ate all that we could, though I gave half of what I had to Luffy who just gobbled it all down in one bite. He was doing better now, but he was replacing his whining with singing now and it was driving me insane, but if it kept him distracted then it was fine by me.

We weren't lost, I had been marking trees with a sharp rock I had found, but we weren't exactly sure where we were either. We were close by the river and judging by its silence we were heading farther downstream. Eventually the river would run dry, or we'd find something else.

If we had a higher view out of the trees, it'd probably be easier to see the rest of the island and where a town could possibly be. Though, I was having doubts It was inhabited at all due to the lack of living creatures running around. I shook them away though, I had to stay positive.

I stopped and looked around for the tallest and easiest tree to climb. There. Closest to the river was a big oak tree with low enough branches for me to reach. I gripped the branches tightly and lifted myself up and began to climb.

"What're you doing?" Luffy called as I made my way up.

"Trying to get a better view of the island."

I saw an arm stretch up towards the top of the tree and heard laughter before realizing that Luffy had beat me to the top. I rolled my eyes and muttered how it wasn't fair.

"Oooh! Nami, you should see this!"

"I will when I get there!" I shouted. I had a quite a ways to go before I'd reach the top, but I didn't have to worry about that. Another rubbery arm headed for me and wrapped itself around my waist before hauling me to the top of the tree with ease.

When the world stopped spinning, I had just enough strength to hit him on the shoulder. He didn't have to surprise me like that. My knees were still wobbly. I would never get used to that.

"Look! There some smoke over there! Do you think they're cooking something?" his mouthed watered at the thought of meat and I had to smack him on the head for him to stop.

I took a quick glance around the island, and sure enough, it was beautiful. The trees were the greenest and healthiest things I had ever seen, and the flowers sprinkled colors all over, and in the distance, you could see the stretch of the ocean and the sun that was now hanging over it. The strangest thing about it though was that it was in the shape of a flower. I counted about ten petals. I found the one that I had been on, the one closest to where the sun had been when it set. I was about to ask Luffy which one he had been on but saw the messy sand and fallen trees first.

I made a small map in my head to remember this. I had been on the first petal, closest to the west. Luffy had been on the third. Judging by the cuts on the trees of the sixth, Zoro had been there and Sanji on the seventh. The trees looked a bit scorched.

I turned to look where Luffy had pointed and saw the smoke. It was a small amount of smoke and there was only a little bit left. I thought about going over there to see what it was, but what if they weren't one of our friends? What if it was some sort of cannibal or something? I wouldn't have any real way to protect myself.

I really needed to find my Clima Tact soon.

I looked around to see if there were any towns. I spun all around the tree, looking in all directions, but I could only find one somewhere far ahead of us towards the center of the island. It looked like a decently sized town, fairly large but not as large as some of the others we'd been to. I pointed it out to Luffy and he was already trying to get there. I gripped the back of his shirt to stop him.

"What're you doing? Let go!"

"You can't expect me to be able to get out of this tree as fast as you can!"

"Then hold on!" He grabbed me again and had us falling down the tree at a frighteningly fast speed that had me screaming and gripping on to him for dear life. No, there was no way I would ever get used to this.

When we were safely on the ground, Luffy was running like crazy through the forest, heading in the wrong direction. Thankfully, he wasn't nearly as bad as Zoro. I caught up with him and had to guide him the right way and fortunately, he listened to me.

* * *

Somehow, we had made a wrong turn and had to use a tree to find the town again. We were closer than before, but we still wouldn't make it within a day.

Not a single sign of the crew for almost two days.

That wasn't good.

Were they alright?

Were they eating?

Were they alive?

Were they…dead?

The sun was beginning to set by the time we made it across the half way point. If we slept tonight and started again for the town in the morning, we could make it by late evening and possibly find a place to stay for the night.

We took another break for food. We could only find a few nuts and berries though, so it wasn't exactly a feast fit for kings, but it would do. For me at least. Luffy was having a few withdrawals so I had to give him most of what I found again. He was hesitant this time and asked if I was sure. I said yes and then he just furrowed his brows and said girls eat too little.

I rolled my eyes.

The island was fairly warm, if I hadn't mentioned that already, so when the sun set it didn't make the island too cold, it was tolerable and it was a lot easier to sleep with a shirt on. Even with a blood stain on it. Huh. I was becoming really careless with my clothes lately.

It was about midnight when I heard them.

They were light and airy and whispery just as before. They were giggling quietly in my ear and they were dancing circles around me. They were asking where I was going, where I was going to stay. They wanted to know what I thought of their island.

I froze at that part, my body going ice cold. I remember the advice the fake Luffy had told me on the ship and kept my mouth sealed. They didn't seem as innocent as they had on the ship. They were crueler and colder. I felt it.

I inched closer to Luffy, hoping that his warmth would help me some how or at least bring me comfort.

'_Ah ah ah Nami! Don't be afraid!'_

'_We just want to know where you're going.'_

'_Now why are you backing away from us?'_

'_Is your captain warm?'_

'_Does he make you feel safe?'_

I squeezed my eyes shut and rolled over to face away from them. I buried my head into Luffys arm and held my breath, pleading silently for them to leave.

'_We can kill him you know.'_

I didn't answer, but I felt my body shake in response.

'_We can kill all of them.'_

'_But we can't kill you.'_

'_And it's really annoying because we don't know why.'_

'_Why can't we kill you Nami?'_

'_Why are you so special?'_

'_Why can't we kill you?'_

I wanted them to go away so badly. I wanted them to leave, to stop and shut up, so I told them "because I'm important."

They sneered.

'_You?'_

'_Now why would you be important?'_

'_Don't be silly Nami.'_

'_You're just a pathetic little girl playing pirates with a pathetic little crew.'_

'_But don't worry. We still like you.'_

'_You can still play with us!'_

'_We love new friends.'_

They giggled.

The air was getting colder with each movement they made. I could feel them coming closer and I just couldn't take it anymore.

"LUFFY!"

I practically screamed in his ear.

He woke up with a start and thrashed his legs all over the place. "Wuh-wha! Wha izzit?"

The air was warm in a matter of seconds and I knew they were gone, so I released a sigh of relief and just let my head fall back onto his arm. A few tears were trying to escape, but I held them back.

"What're you doing?"

"Trying to sleep."

"Why'd you scream?"

I looked up at him and shrugged. "Bad dream?"

He looked at me for a few moments, into my eyes, and I wondered if he noticed the tears, but all he did was blink a couple of times and just went back to sleep.

"G'night," he mumbled before drifting off.

"Goodnight," I whispered. "And thanks."

* * *

So, there you have it. They're on the island and Nami is still having those hallucinations and Luffy found her but they didn't find the others and those pesky ghost kids won't leave Nami alone and they can't find any meat for Luffy and this whole thing is just one big sour adventure. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hoped I kept them in character.

I tried to make longer than the others, but I feel like it's a little rushed. So, if you have any suggestions on what I can do to improve, feel free to tell me!


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